:ORIAL    COMMENTS 

ON  THE 

JFE  AND  WORK 


BAKER  EDDY 


r 

L1ERARY 

UNIVER  .ITV  Of 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEQO 


1 


RICHARD  SWEET  MILTON 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

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EDITORIAL  COMMENTS 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS 


ON   THE 


LIFE  AND  WORK 


OF 


MARY  BAKER  EDDY 

Discoverer  and  Founder  of  Christian  Science, 
and  Author  of  the  Christian  Science  textbook, 
"Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures" 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY 

BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS,  U.S.A. 


Copyright,  1911,  by 
The  Christian  Science  Publishing  Society 


[Printed  in  U.S.A.] 


FOREWORD 

This  volume  has  been  prepared  in  response  to  the 
many  requests  that  have  come  to  the  Publishing  Society 
for  the  issuance  in  permanent  and  convenient  form  of 
at  least  a  part  of  the  many  special  articles,  personal 
tributes,  and  editorials,  dealing  with  the  life  and  work 
of  Mrs.  Eddy,  which  appeared  in  the  press  throughout 
the  civilized  world  during  the  months  of  December,  1910, 
and  January,  1911.  So  wide-spread  and  generous,  in- 
deed, was  this  spontaneous  tribute,  that  even  in  prepar- 
ing the  "Excerpts  from  Editorial  Comments"  which  were 
published  in  the  Sentinel,  it  was  found  impossible,  for 
lack  of  space,  to  make  a  representative  selection  from 
the  voluminous  matter  in  hand  without  in  most  instances 
using  only  such  parts  of  the  editorials  as  bore  directly  on 
the  particular  achievements  with  which  Mrs.  Eddy  was 
so  generally  accredited.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
the  articles  and  excerpts  herein  presented  are  indicative 
of  a  general  desire  to  render  honor  where  honor  is  due, 
and  that  the  book  will  be  welcomed  not  only  by  Christian 
Scientists  but  by  fair-minded  thinkers  everywhere. 


[Editorial  from  Christian  Science  Sentinel] 

MARY  BAKER  EDDY 

There  is  a  story  of  a  certain  old-world  philosopher  who, 
when  it  was  asked  of  him,  "What  constitutes  achievement?" 
answered,  "To  be  able  to  reply  Yes,  every  evening,  to  your- 
self, when  you  ask,  'Have  I  done  good  to  any  one  to-day?' " 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  practical  and  efficacious 
test  of  the  value  of  a  man's  life-work,  and  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  find  any  one  to  whom  it  could  be  more  fearlessly 
applied  than  Mrs.  Eddy.  Her  whole  life,  even  before  she 
discovered  Christian  Science,  constituted  an  expression  of 
an  intense  tenderness  for  suffering  humanity,  and  as  the 
years  added  themselves  to  years,  and  she  learned  more 
and  more  of  divine  Life,  Truth,  and  Love,  she  came  to 
fulfil  absolutely  the  exhortation  of  Paul  to  the  church  at 
Colosse,  "Walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  being 
fruitful  in  every  good  work,  and  increasing  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  God." 

Building  in  this  way  for  God  and  not  for  herself,  she 
built  on  sure  foundations.  The  Christian  Science  church 
which,  in  the  brief  space  of  forty-four  years,  has  literally 
folded  itself  around  the  globe,  is  in  this  way  founded  upon  a 
rock,  the  rock  of  divine  service.  It  is  a  rock  against  which 
the  storms  may  beat  in  vain,  for  as  long  as  the  thoughts  of 
men  are  turned  away  from  selfish  aims,  in  the  endeavor  to 
be  able  to  say,  at  every  close  of  day,  "I  have  striven  to 
bring  healing  to  the  sick,  peace  to  the  weary,  joy  to  the 
sorrowing,"  they  will  be  learning  something  of  the  meaning 
of  consecration. 

The  depth  of  man's  consecration  may  be  measured  by 
his  understanding  of  divine  service.  "The  song  of  Chris- 
tian Science,"  Mrs.  Eddy  writes,  "is,  'Work — work — work — 
watch  and  pray' "  (Message  to  The  Mother  Church  for  1900, 
p.  2),  and  certainly  no  one  has  ever  put  exhortation  into  prac- 

3 


4  MARY   BAKER   EDDY 

tice  with  more  selfless  devotion  than  has  she.  "I  saw  before 
me,"  she  writes  on  page  226  of  Science  and  Health,  allud- 
ing to  her  earlier  trials,  "the  awful  conflict,  the  Red  Sea 
and  the  wilderness;  but  I  pressed  on  through  faith  in  God, 
trusting  Truth,  the  strong  deliverer,  to  guide  me  into  the 
land  of  Christian  Science,  where  fetters  fall  and  the  rights 
of  man  are  fully  known  and  acknowledged."  Not  once, 
in  all  those  years  of  conflict,  did  she  flinch,  because  not  once 
in  all  those  years  did  she  put  her  own  will  before  the  will 
of  God;  and  so  to-day  the  Red  Sea  and  the  wilderness  lie 
far  behind,  and  the  advancing  hosts  of  Christian  Science 
hear  the  voice  of  their  Leader,  repeating  the  triumphant 
words  of  her  Master,  "Fear  not,  little  flock." 

What  Mrs.  Eddy  has  won  for  Christian  Science,  her 
followers  will  maintain  and  increase,  because  she  has  given 
them  a  scientific  understanding  of  Love;  and,  as  she  her- 
self says,  "Where  shall  the  gaze  rest  but  in  the  unsearch- 
able realm  of  Mind?  We  must  look  where  we  would  walk, 
and  we  must  act  as  possessing  all  power  from  Him  in  whom 
we  have  our  being"  (Science  and  Health,  p.  264).  Though 
they  stumble  and  falter  as  they  press  forward,  press  for- 
ward they  must;  because  they  have  realized  that  the  de- 
mands of  divine  Science  are  imperative,  and  that  the  peace 
of  God  which  they  one  and  all  seek  can  only  come  to  them 
in  proportion  to  the  measure  of  their  performance. 

This  performance  has,  however,  to  be  something  more 
than  individual,  it  has  to  be  collective  as  well.  Even  in  the 
affairs  of  this  world  the  proverb  declares  that  in  union  is 
strength.  If  this  is  true  of  the  effort  of  discordant  minds 
and  temperaments  to  achieve  a  human  victory,  how  much 
more  true  must  it  be  of  that  unity  in  the  service  of  God 
which  is  founded  on  unity  of  thought  and  action.  Such 
unity  is  to  be  wrought  out  only  in  the  determination  to 
seek  another's  good  rather  than  our  own,  for  self-seeking 
is  the  seed  which  would  grow  into  the  tree  of  disintegra- 
tion. 

This  is  the  lesson  which  Mrs.  Eddy  has  held  persist- 
ently before  her  followers,  and  we  can  only  claim  to  be 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  5 

her  followers  in  proportion  to  our  obedience  to  her  teach- 
ing; and  to  obey  that  teaching  we  have  to  devote  our  efforts 
to  the  attempt  to  live  in  good.  "Who  lives  in  good,"  she 
writes,  on  page  4  of  "Pulpit  and  Press,"  "lives  also  in  God, 
— lives  in  all  Life,  through  all  space.  His  is  an  individual 
kingdom,  his  diadem  a  crown  of  crowns.  His  existence 
is  deathless,  forever  unfolding  its  eternal  Principle.  Wait 
patiently  on  illimitable  Love,  the  lord  and  giver  of  Life. 
Reflect  this  Life,  and  with  it  cometh  the  full  power  of  be- 
ing. 'They  shall  be  abundantly  satisfied  with  the  fatness 
of  Thy  house.' " 

Archibald  McLellan. 


[Editorial  from  Christian  Science  Sentinel] 

ONWARD   AND   UPWARD      . 

Christian  Scientists  the  world  over  have  another  re- 
minder that  they  must  arouse  themselves  as  never  before 
to  prove  by  demonstration  the  priceless  teachings  of  their 
beloved  Leader.  This  she  has  always  urged  them  to  do, 
but  the  human  tendency  often  leads  us  to  rely  upon  another 
to  work  out  our  problems  for  us,  and  so  far  as  this  is  yielded 
to  we  lay  needless  burdens  upon  others,  and  miss  tempo- 
rarily the  unfoldment  of  our  own  spiritual  capacities. 

Some  years  ago,  when  Mrs.  Eddy  found  it  necessary  to 
go  away  from  Boston  in  order  to  gain  greater  freedom  for 
the  revision  of  Science  and  Health,  and  also  for  the  writing 
of  other  books  which  have  so  wonderfully  enriched  our 
literature,  many  of  her  followers  were  greatly  disappointed, 
because,  as  it  then  seemed,  their  captain  had  retired  from 
the  field  and  left  them  to  fight  their  battles  alone.  Soon, 
however,  they  learned  that  this  was  far  from  being  the  case. 
As  a  result  of  the  greater  freedom  gained  by  seclusion, 
she  was  enabled  to  work  out  the  rules  for  our  church  or- 
ganization, The  Mother  Church  and  its  rapidly  increasing 
branches,  as  given  in  the  Manual.  She  also  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Lesson-Sermons,  Christian  Science 
reading-rooms,  the  board  of  lectureship,  the  committees  on 


6  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

publication,  and  the  extension  of  our  literature  in  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Sentinel,  Der  Herold,  and  the  Monitor.  The 
Journal  had  been  established  by  her  in  1883,  and  she  con- 
tinued to  be  a  frequent  contributor  to  its  pages. 

Among  the  many  other  achievements  of  Mrs.  Eddy's 
years  of  retirement  from  society,  may  be  reckoned  the  build- 
ing of  The  Mother  Church  edifice  in  1894,  also  its  magnifi- 
cent extension  in  1904,  and  later  the. erection  of  the  publish- 
ing house.  All  of  this,  however,  is  but  the  outward  expression 
of  the  mighty  Christianizing  influence  which  had  its  present- 
day  inception  in  the  giving  to  the  world  of  "Science  and 
Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures."  The  redemption  of 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  professed  Christians  from  a 
doubting  and  uncertain  faith  in  God  and  the  promises  of 
Christ  Jesus,  and  the  awakening  of  vast  numbers  of  avowed 
agnostics  .to  a  vital  faith  in  these  and  a  new-found  love  for 
God  and  man;  the  physical  healing  of  multitudes  and  their 
moral  and  spiritual  quickening, — these  are  the  things  that 
really  tell  the  story  of  what  she  attempted  and  by  the  grace 
of  God  accomplished.  Well  may  the  lesson  of  her  life 
arouse  all  her  followers  from  the  lethargy  of  mortal  belief 
and  the  delusions  of  mere  personal  ambition,  to  whole- 
hearted service  in  the  cause  of  Truth. 

The  cause  of  Christian  Science  is  firmly  established, 
thanks  to  Mrs.  Eddy's  reflection  of  divine  wisdom  and  her 
unceasing  toil.  To  us  is  now  committed  the  glorious  task 
of  seeing  to  it  that  no  smallest  portion  of  our  spiritual  heri- 
tage shall  be  lost  to  posterity,  because  of  any  lack  of  ap- 
preciation or  energy  on  our  part.  As  we  think  of  our 
beloved  Leader,  crowned  with  a  record  of  long  and  selfless 
service  such  as  the  world  has  seldom  seen,  we  may  recall 
Tennyson's  characterization  of  a  great  English  statesman, — 

Whose  eighty  winters  freeze  with  one  rebuke 
All  great  self-seekers  trampling  on  the  right. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  followers  are  such  because  most  of  them 
had  hungered  for  but  failed  to  find  that  which  her  teaching 
offers,  the  Science  which  reveals  the  facts  of  being,  includ- 
ing man's  limitless  possibilities  as  a  child  of  God,  and  which 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  7 

makes  all  the  promises  of  Christ  Jesus  an  absolute  cer- 
tainty. Like  the  Samaritans  who  listened  to  their  towns- 
woman's  story  of  Jesus'  wonderful  teachings,  we  can  say, 
"Now  we  believe,  not  because  of  thy  saying:  for  we  have 
heard  him  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world."  Jesus,  as  a  personal  teacher,  left 
his  followers,  but  he  promised  that  the  Comforter,  "the  Spirit 
of  truth,"  should  come  and  abide  with  them  forever,  should 
bring  to  their  remembrance  all  that  he  had  taught  them. 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  ever  directed  her  followers  to  look  away 
from  her  personality  to  the  Holy  Comforter,  and  as  they 
have  striven  to  obey  they  have  found  the  eternal  and  infinite 
source  of  all  comfort,  the  Life  divine.  They  will  prove 
their  love  for  their  divinely  inspired  Leader  by  greater  faith- 
fulness at  every  step  of  the  way;  they  will  "wait  upon  the 
Lord"  and  "renew  their  strength;"  they  will  "run,  and  not 
be  weary;   .  .  .  walk,  and  not  faint." 

Annie  M.  Knott. 


[Editorial  from  Christian  Science  Sentinel] 

"JUDGE   RIGHTEOUS  JUDGMENT" 

It  seems  only  fitting  at  this  time  to  devote  a  large  portion 
of  our  space  in  this  issue  of  the  Sentinel  to  excerpts  from 
the  columns  upon  columns  of  editorial  comment  that  have 
appeared  in  the  secular  press  during  the  past  week, — a  trib- 
ute in  its  apprehension  and  appreciation  of  the  greatness 
of  our  beloved  Leader  and  the  work  she  has  done  for  hu- 
manity at  large,  as  generous  as  it  is  wide-spread. 

There  is  one  phase  of  this  comment  which  is  character- 
istic. Few  of  the  editorial  writers  lay  claim  to  a  personal 
knowledge  of  the  teachings  of  Christian  Science,  but  with 
very  few  exceptions  they  concede  that  its  Discoverer  and 
Founder  was  a  wonderful  woman  and  that  she  wrought  a 
wonderful  work;  that  the  world  is  better  and  happier  be- 
cause of  her,  and  that  wherever  this  faith  has  become  estab- 
lished its  exponents  are  "living  epistles"  that  make  for  the 
general  uplift  of  the  community. 


8  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

It  is  true  that  Christian  Scientists  do  not  need  to  be  told 
how  truly  great  is  the  mission  of  Christian  Science  and  how 
much  of  good  it  has  accomplished.  None  know  better  than 
they  the  tireless  energy,  the  unfailing  watchfulness  over  its 
welfare  that  in  the  last  forty  years  has  gone  to  its  estab- 
lishment and  upbuilding;  that  there  was  no  fear  or  faltering 
on  the  part  of  the  Leader  who  set  her  hand  to  the  fulfilment 
of  her  high  calling,  but  it  is  none  the  less  gratifying  when 
such  generous  tribute  to  the  greatness  of  her  accomplish- 
ment is  paid  by  those  who  have  judged  her  by  the  Scriptural 
standard:  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

One  can  but  ponder,  however,  how  much  more  of  good 
would  be  accomplished  if  the  teachings  of  Christian  Science 
were  more  generally  accorded  recognition,  if  the  truth  it 
presents  in  all  its  beauty  and  simplicity,  the  truth  which 
centuries  ago  Christ  Jesus  declared  should  make  men  free, 
should  lead  them  out  of  the  darkness  of  despair  into  "the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God,"  should  be  accepted 
in  its  entirety.  One  can  but  believe  that  the  ever  lessening 
minority  of  those  who  misjudge  and  condemn  Christian 
Science  do  so  because  they  have  failed  to  apprehend,  to  lay 
hold  on  its  animating  and  dominating  truth,  that  because 
God  is  omnipotent  good,  evil  is  shorn  of  its  assumed  power; 
that  the  reasonableness  of  its  propositions  lies  in  the  fact  that 
they  are  demonstrable  by  each  and  every  one  in  the  propor- 
tion that  they  are  accepted  and  put  into  practice. 

In  this  connection  a  clipping  from  the  Washington 
(D.  C.)  Herald,  which  reports  a  sermon  by  one  of  the  pas- 
tors of  that  city,  is  particularly  apropos.  The  Rev.  Lloyd 
Douglass,  preaching  from  that  wonderful  promise  of  the 
Master  which  is  the  foundation  stone  of  Christian  Science 
practice, — "He  that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do 
shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do," — 
said: — 

I  am  not  a  Christian  Scientist,  and  my  position  as  pastor  of  an 
orthodox  church  makes  that  point  quite  clear.  Yet  I  had  rather  be 
identified  with  that  cult  than  to  be  identified  with  the  large  and  in- 
creasing body  of  people  who  are  zealous  in  impugning  all  of  its  teach- 
ings without  going  to  the  trouble  of  investigating. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  ° 

When  Mrs.  Eddy  began  her  teachings  she  felt  the  Christian  church 
was  failing  to  realize  the  practical  value  and  usefulness  of  the  power 
which  Jesus  Christ  had  delegated  to  his  disciples.  Some  of  the  most 
ardent  enemies  of  Christian  Science  are  people  who  have  not  taken  the 
time  or  trouble  to  study  the  principles  set  forth  in  Science  and  Health. 
It  would  be  better  if  these  people  would  devote  their  controversial 
powers  to  some  matter  upon  which  they  had  more  information. 

We  read  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke  that  when  Jesus  came  back 
to  his  home  town  of  Nazareth  after  his  experience  in  the 
wilderness,  he  read  in  the  synagogue  this  prophecy  from  the 
book  of  Isaiah:  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
he  hath  annointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor;  he 
hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  brokenhearted,  to  preach  deliver- 
ance to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind, 
to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised."  Here  in  epitome 
is  the  mission  of  Christian  Science,  the  work  inaugurated 
by  our  Leader  and  its  every  obligation  fulfilled, — the  work 
it  is  the  high  privilege  of  Christian  Scientists  everywhere 
to  carry  on  in  faithful  continuance,  watching,  working,  and 
praying  until  the  light  which  has  come  to  them  through  her 
teachings  shall  "radiate  and  glow  into  noontide  glory" 
(Science  and  Health,  p.  367);  until  the  leaven  shall  have 
leavened  the  whole  lump,  until  men  everywhere  shall  see  in 
Christian  Science  the  undivided  garment  of  Christ  Jesus. 

Archibald  McLellan. 


[Reprinted  from  The  Christian  Science  Monitor] 

A  TRIBUTE 

MRS.  ANNIE  M.  KNOTT 

It  is  the  testimony  of  Holy  Writ  that  love  is  stronger 
than  death,  and  at  this  hour  Christian  Scientists  are  proving 
the  truth  of  the  inspired  saying.  Their  beloved  and  revered 
Leader,  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  has  left  the  earthly  scene  of  her 
untiring  activity  in  the  service  of  God  and  humanity,  and 
in  the  solemn  hush  which  follows  their  human  sense  of  loss 
they  realize  as  never  before  the  depths  of  their  love  for 
this  noble  and  true-hearted  woman  whose  life  of  devotion 
to  Truth  has  meant  so  much  to  unnumbered  thousands  of 


10  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

lives  that  were  in  deepest  darkness  until  the  light  of  Chris- 
tian Science  dawned  upon  them.  Poorly  indeed  would  they 
prove  their  understanding  of  her  teachings  did  they  at  this 
hour  yield  to  any  unreasoning  sense  of  sorrow.  Mrs.  Eddy 
has  ever  insisted  that  God,  not  man,  is  "the  centre  and  cir- 
cumference of  being,"  the  Principle  and  Life  of  all,  and  to 
this  eternal  fact  they  will  cling  until  the  goal  of  spiritual 
being  is  reached,  and  the  deathless  life  proved  by  Christ 
Jesus  is  attained.  Mrs.  Eddy's  discovery  of  the  healing  and 
saving  power  of  divine  Truth  was  brought  to  a  densely 
materialistic  age,  but  in  spite  of  this  it  has  aroused  mankind 
to  lay  hold  upon  all  that  the  Bible  promises.  To-day,  after 
nearly  half  a  century  of  arduous  and  unselfish  toil  on  her 
part,  the  Scriptures  are  a  mighty,  life-giving  power  to  mul- 
titudes who  before  the  coming  of  Christian  Science  knew 
them  only  as  the  letter  that  killeth. 

With  the  temperament  of  a  seer,  Mrs.  Eddy  has  always 
chosen  to  be  alone  with  God  in  pondering  the  solution  of 
the  great  problems  of  being,  and  as  a  result  of  her  com- 
munings with  the  Mind  that  governs  the  universe  she  has 
shown  the  utmost  wisdom  in  directing  the  activities  of  the 
rapidly  extending  Christian  Science  movement,  its  success 
being  due  to  her  wonderful  ability  so  to  present  the  truth 
as  to  inspire  those  about  her  with  something  of  her  own 
faith  in  God  and  her  sublime  courage  in  working  for  the 
triumph  of  good  over  evil  in  every  phase  of  human  expe- 
rience. Her  followers  can  now  do  no  less  than  defend  the 
heritage  of  truth  which  she  has  left  them,  until  it  sets  all 
men  free. 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  glorified  the  teachings  of  Christ  Jesus  in 
making  them  a  living  power  to-day  as  truly  as  nineteen 
hundred  years  ago,  and  to  her  belong  his  words  of  com- 
mendation: "Well  done,  good  and  faithful,  servant  .  .  . 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


EXCERPTS  FROM  EDITORIAL  COMMENTS 

[The  Woman's  National  Daily,  St.  Louis,  Mo.] 

It  is  peculiarly  human  to  venerate  and  sanctify  our  an- 
cestors and  stone  those  who  seek  to  better  life  while  we  are 
living  it.  But  a  comparatively  few  years  ago  a  man  died 
whose  life  had  been  spent  in  causing  the  world  to  swim  in 
blood  and  misery.  The  world  trembled  and  gasped  in 
relief  as  he  died,  and  then  proceeded  to  glorify  him  as  it 
had  groveled  at  his  feet  while  he  lived.  He  had  emptied  a 
million  homes  of  their  breadwinners,  caused  more  wide- 
spread misery  and  distress  than  any  man  who  ever  lived, 
and  built  a  world  empire  which  crumbled  before  he  was 
gone;  yet  when  Napoleon  Bonaparte  died  all  the  world 
bowed  its  head  in  tribute  to  the  beating  he  had  given  it. 

Two  nights  ago  a  frail  little  old  gentlewoman  died  who, 
too,  had  built  an  empire,  but  not  of  blood  and  misery.  A 
million  hearts  silently  mourned  her  for  a  moment,  but  in 
accordance  with  her  own  teachings  it  was  only  a  tribute  of 
love  and  loyalty  for  the  brighter,  better  view-point  of  their 
own  life  and  death  she  had  taught  them.  There  was  no 
pomp;  but  a  few  brief  words  following  the  usual  services, 
and  the  announcement  that  a  loved  and  revered  Leader  had 
exchanged  a  mortal  form  for  an  immortal  one.  She  had 
shed  no  blood,  destroyed  no  homes,  shackled  no  nation, 
but  what  she  had  done  was  to  take  away  a  little  human 
misery  and  substitute  a  happier,  better  attitude  toward  life. 
She  taught  nothing  new,  for  what  she  taught  was  but  a 
different  view  of  the  first  thing — the  beginning  and  the  end. 
We  may  differ  from  that  view,  but  none  even  now  can  doubt 
but  that  she  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  souls  that  has 
appeared  in  human  guise. 

We  cannot  know  how  much  of  such  rare  human  lives  is 
abnormal  genius  and  how  much  a  message  and  a  lesson  put 
in  understandable,  humanly  tangible  form  by  divine  Love. 
Certainly,    whether    we    agree    with    teachings    or    reject 

11 


12  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

them,  the  lesson  is  the  same  and  the  world  grows  better 
with  each  such  lesson.  We  stoned  her  for  a  time,  as  usual, 
and  perhaps  she  will  be  soon  forgotten,  or  perhaps  future 
generations  will  cloak  her  with  divinity.  At  any  rate,  the 
world  owes  that  frail  woman  a  greater  debt  than  it  owed 
the  world-conqueror,  and  if  her  works  be  of  life  they  will 
live;  and  if  not,  they  will  die,  but  the  fact  that  even  a  single 
life  has  been  made  better  will  not  be  lost  in  the  world's 
melting-pot  from  which  through  countless  centuries  a  great 
purpose,  beyond  our  human  understanding,  is  being  worked 
out.  Some  time  in  the  future,  perhaps,  the  race  will  stone 
the  bloody  monster  who  seeks  to  make  it  swim  in  blood  to 
gratify  his  own  lust,  and  honor  the  pure  of  heart,  who  seeks 
to  brighten  it;  but  we  are  not  yet  quite  that  civilized.  I  have 
never  read  Mrs.  Eddy's  book  or  teachings,  but  I  have  seen 
some  results  of  them  which  compelled  both  honor  and  respect, 
and  I  believe  that  all  are  agreed  that  a  reasonable  way  of 
judging  a  tree  is  by  its  fruit.  Nothing  could  have  been  finer 
than  the  way  of  her  going  and  its  reception  by  the  multitude 
whose  Leader  and  loved  teacher  she  has  been. 

[Chicago  Tribune] 

With  the  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  there  passes 
from  this  world's  activities  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
women  of  her  time.  Whatever  the  degree  of  faith  or  un- 
faith  with  which  the  individual  may  look  upon  what  she 
taught  and  what  was  accomplished  by  or  through  her  teach- 
ings and  her  influence,  the  amazing  and  well-nigh  miracu- 
lous achievement  set  down  to  her  account  cannot  but  impress 
the  imagination  and  arouse  our  profound  consideration.  She 
has  builded  in  her  own  lifetime  a  great  religious  institution, 
a  faith  wide-spread  and  held  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
believers.  And  not  only  is  the  number  of  her  following 
notable,  but  likewise  its  character.  Mrs.  Eddy  has  not  swept 
into  her  church  myriads  of  the  unthinking  and  uneducated. 
On  the  contrary,  her  teachings  have  appealed  to  the  highest 
classes,  and  the  level  of  the  character  and  intelligence  of  the 
Christian  Scientists  is  everywhere  high. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  13 

As  to  the  right  value  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  message,  the  perma- 
nence, importance,  and  extent  of  the  church  she  founded,  no 
contemporary  estimate  or  prediction  is  worth  much.  A 
hundred  years  from  now  it  will  be  easier  and  safer  to  evalu- 
ate her  teachings,  the  worth  of  the  work  she  did,  and  her 
own  place  among  the  men  and  women  who  have  risen  to 
lead  and  influence  powerfully  and  extensively  the  lives,  the 
thought,  and  the  spirit  of  their  fellow-men. 

[Boston  Globe] 

The  deep  sorrow  felt  by  Christian  Scientists  over  the  loss 
of  their  Leader,  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  will  be  shared  by  people 
of  broad  sympathies  outside  that  church  who  regret  the 
passing  of  any  notable  figure.  The  impulse  toward  higher 
standards  of  conduct  in  life  which  had  its  birth  within  her 
mind  will  continue  to  live  and  influence  humanity. 

Within  a  generation  Mrs.  Eddy  founded  and  established 
a  sect,  and  lived  to  see  her  teachings  accepted  by  many 
people  scattered  throughout  the  entire  world.  The  ethical 
part  of  her  faith,  pointing  to  rules  for  every-day  conduct, 
has  found  general  favor,  and  it  is  chiefly  the  therapeutic  side 
of  her  teachings  that  has  aroused  criticism.  Whatever  one's 
view  on  religion  may  be,  few  will  care  to  deny  that  Mrs. 
Eddy's  influence  has  been  directed  toward  the  betterment  of 
those  that  she  intimately  touched.  It  must  have  been  singu- 
larly gratifying  in  the  closing  days  of  her  life  to  realize  how 
widely  her  belief  has  been  adopted,  for  few  men  and  still 
fewer  women  live,  as  did  Mrs.  Eddy,  to  see  their  fullest 
hopes  realized.  This  is  not  an  appropriate  time  to  set  an 
estimate  upon  her  right  to  enduring  fame,  which  can  better 
be  judged  by  posterity,  but  the  present-day  testimony  must 
be  one  of  respect  for  a  woman  of  remarkable  mind  and  of 
unusual  ability,  who,  after  a  long  and  active  life,  spent  her 
closing  years  at  peace  with  the  world.  She  has  now  passed 
on,  leaving  behind  her  an  institution  that  she  created. 

[Concord  (N.  H.)  Monitor] 

Whether  one  agrees  or  disagrees  with  the  Christian 
Science  faith  in  its  concept  and  practice,  few,  we  think,  will 


14  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

deny  to  the  Founder  of  that  church  the  laurels  of  greatness 
and  the  right  to  be  called  "a  wonderful  woman." 

Study  the  story  of  her  life  as  written  by  friend  or  foe, — 
the  impartial  pose  toward  her  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
difficult  one  to  maintain, — and  every  careful  and  thoughtful 
reader  must  be  impressed  with  what  Mrs.  Eddy  accom- 
plished in  her  old  age,  for  the  dawning  of  her  success  was 
not  much  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago  and  she  was 
eighty-nine  when  she  died.  The  permanence  or  brevity  of 
the  spiritual  empire  she  created,  the  extent  of  her  influence 
upon  modern  thought  and  life,  will  be  justly  valued  soon 
by  time,  the  great  appraiser.  Whatever  that  verdict  may 
be,  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  will  long  be 
cherished  in  Concord,  the  city  which  by  her  and  through 
her  has  been  so  much  beautified  and  benefited. 

[Boston  Post] 

The  passing  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  one  who  for 
more  than  a  generation  past  has  been  a  force  of  exceptional 
magnitude  in  the  spiritual  life  of  a  large  following.  The 
cult  which  she  introduced,  and  of  which  she  remained  the 
acknowledged  and  venerated  head  and  exponent  to  the  very 
end  of  her  long  life,  has  in  it  elements  which  have  appealed 
strongly  to  many  people. 

The  record  of  the  Christian  Science  church  is  phenomenal 
in  the  history  of  modern  religious  movements.  It  is  hardly 
thirty  years  since  The  Mother  Church  was  organized  here 
in  Boston,  and  today  its  branches  number  more  than  one 
thousand  and  its  congregations  are  established  in  the  east- 
ern as  well  as  the  western  hemisphere.  This  has  followed 
the  quiet,  persistent  spread  of  those  ideas  of  which  Mrs.  Eddy 
stands  as  the  author.  It  is  not  necessary  that  one  should 
hold  agreement  with  the  postulates  of  Christian  Science  to 
recognize  this  marvelous  extension  of  the  cult  and  to  appre- 
ciate the  fact  that  Mrs.  Eddy  has  exercised  a  tremendous 
power  in  directing  it.  She  pointed  out  the  applications,  as 
she  conceived  them,  of  religious  ideas  nineteen  centuries  old, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  IS 

in  their  relation  to  the  conditions  of  life  among  the  people 
of  today. 

As  was  to  be  expected  from  the  range  of  the  doctrines 
propounded  by  Mrs.  Eddy,  strong  antagonisms  were  aroused, 
and  it  is  in  meeting  them  with  steady  calmness  that  she 
demonstrated  the  stability  of  her  own  personal  faith  and 
gave  inspiration  to  those  who  accepted  her  leadership  and 
stood  with  her.  Even  those  in  emphatic  disagreement  with 
Mrs.  Eddy's  doctrines  may  well  recognize  in  her  a  remark- 
able personality. 

[New  York  American] 

So  wide-spread  is  the  fame  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  that 
there  is  no  country  in  the  world  that  will  not  take  note  of 
her  death.  Her  extraordinary  influence  upon  her  genera- 
tion will  everywhere  suggest  comparisons  or  contrasts  be- 
tween her  work  and  that  of  the  seer  who  died  in  Russia  a 
few  days  ago.  Count  Tolstoi  spoke  to  the  intellect  and 
Mrs.  Eddy  to  the  heart.  Nobody  has  any  right  to  doubt 
the  sincerity  of  either;  though  every  one  will  think  and  feel 
as  he  pleases  or  as  he  can — concerning  their  wisdom  and 
inspiration. 

Thousands  of  homes  in  America  and  elsewhere  have 
felt  the  cheer  of  her  brave  spirit — and  will  cherish  her 
memory  with  the  feeling  that  it  is  a  reviving  and  inspiring 
presence.  But  no  reflective  person  can  doubt  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  great  rally  of  the  human  mind  against  the 
discouraging  materialism  of  the  nineteenth  century — a  re- 
volt of  the  soul  against  mechanism  and  fate,  in  which  this 
woman  played  so  remarkable  a  part. 

[New  York  Morning  Sun] 

The  creed  which  Mrs.  Eddy  built  in  the  minds  or  hearts 
of  her  multitude  of  disciples  has  one  aspect  or  incident 
which  seems  to  us  to  deserve  universal  recognition.  It  is 
apart  from  any  question  concerning  the  theology,  the  pa- 
thology, the  psychology  of  her  doctrines,  and  apart  even  from 
the  facts  of  her  personal  career. 


16  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

We  are  thinking  of  the  astonishing  influence  she  exerted 
in  thousands  of  homes  for  the  amelioration  of  life  and 
manners  in  some  of  the  details  of  family  and  social  inter- 
course. She  taught  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  observation 
encourages  the  belief  that  the  great  majority  of  her  fol- 
lowers either  became  more  cheerful,  both  subjectively  and 
as  consistent  examples  to  those  around  them,  or  with  more 
or  less  success  simulated  a  modification  of  temperament 
in  that  respect,  which  amounts  in  practice  to  nearly  the  same 
thing.  She  taught  charity  in  judging  the  deeds  and  motives 
of  another — who  does  not  know  of  more  than  one  case  in 
his  own  circle  of  acquaintance  where  apparently  hopeless 
vinegar  has  become  oil  because  of  her?  She  went  so  far 
as  to  devise  a  vocabulary  of  euphemism,  which  proceeds  in 
the  right  direction,  no  matter  how  you  may  regard  some 
of  its  extreme  manifestations;  for  there  are  many  habitual 
and  conventional  asperities  of  expression  which  serve  beyond 
doubt  no  better  purpose  than  to  intensify  the  sentiments 
they  denote. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  nothing  more  than  an  insistent 
application  of  principles  common  to  all  the  forms  of  the 
Christian  faith.  Granting  that,  is  it  any  the  less  the  duty 
of  candor  to  recognize  the  effort  and  results  and  to  ac- 
knowledge the  service? 

[Morning  Telegraph,  New  York  City] 

It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  great  work  started  by 
Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  who  died  last  Saturday,  will  go  on. 
The  world  owes  much  to  the  woman  who  apparently  dis- 
covered a  great  truth,  and  who  at  least  has  raised  thousands 
out  of  the  slough  of  despond,  converted  a  multitude  of 
hypochondriacs  into  hopeful  and  cheerful  persons.  Mrs. 
Eddy  lived  until  she  was  in  her  ninetieth  year  and  never 
wavered  in  her  deep-rooted  faith,  and  died  affirming  it.  So 
thoroughly  had  she  instilled  her  views  into  her  followers 
that  her  work  will  live  after  her,  and  without  doubt  the 
Christian  Science  church  will  expand,  gather  in  disciples, 
and  continue  to  do  the  good  work. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  17 

[Manchester  (N.  H.)  Union} 

Mary  Baker  Eddy,  who  died  on  Saturday  night  at  a  ripe 
old  age,  was  a  woman  who  had  made  her  mark  upon  the 
time  in  which  she  lived.  It  is  as  idle  as  it  is  contemptible 
to  refuse  to  recognize  facts,  and  the  church  which  she 
founded  is  a  substantial  fact  indeed,  in  whatever  light  it 
may  be  viewed.  That  a  woman  at  middle  life  should  have 
gathered  about  her  a  little  band  of  pupils  and  should  have 
so  impressed  her  teachings  upon  them  that  they  became  her 
devoted  disciples,  that  she  should  have  lived  to  see  that 
little  company  increase  and  expand  until  it  became  a  re- 
ligious organization  counting  nearly  a  thousand  churches 
and  more  than  eighty-five  thousand  members  in  this  country 
alone,  and  with  branches  in  most  of  the  countries  of  the 
world,  is  a  fact  which  may  well  attract  the  interest  and 
hold  the  attention  of  any  one  who  desires  to  be  well  in- 
formed and  who  professes  to  hold  an  open  mind. 

It  is  a  development  which  must  be  admitted  to  be  the 
more  remarkable  because  it  came  in  a  period  of  the  most 
notable  discoveries  in  medical  science.  At  the  same  time 
that  the  effect  of  certain  germs  upon  the  physical  organiza- 
tion was  beginning  to  be  understood,  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her 
followers  boldly  and  persistently  maintained  that  disease 
is  more  of  the  mind  than  of  the  body.  Nor  were  those  fol- 
lowers gathered  only  from  among  the  ignorant  and  the 
credulous.  The  character  of  the  members  of  Christian 
Science  churches  is  such  that  ridicule  may  be  said  to  have 
become  itself  ridiculous,  and  it  has  well-nigh  ceased. 

[Chicago  Post] 

The  passing  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  brings  to  a  close 
a  life  story  that  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  that  this 
country  of  unlimited  possibilities  has  to  show.  Out  of 
nothing  that  is  physical,  no  great  fortune,  no  industrial 
invention,  no  inherited  opportunity,  Mrs.  Eddy  built  up  a 
great  career.  It  is  the  greater  because  its  greatness  was 
not  for  herself  but  for  the  church  which  she  founded.  She 
took  from  the  Bible  one  of  the  fundamental  commands 


18  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

which  modern  Christianity  had  overlooked,  the  solemn  in- 
junction to  "heal  the  sick."  This,  with  an  inspiration  that 
burned  steady  and  serene  for  long  years,  she  put  into  a 
faith  and  a  creed  that  has  brought  happiness  and  health  and 
the  active  religious  spirit  to  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
her  fellow-beings. 

This  accomplishment  cannot  be  denied  her,  even  by  those 
to  whom  Christian  Science  is  most  distasteful.  Its  proof 
lies  first  in  the  growth  and  solid  strength  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  Scientist,  and  secondly  in  the  character  and  bearing 
of  the  members  of  that  church.  The  stately  church 
buildings  in  this  city  and  its  suburbs,  and  the  constant  ad- 
ditions to  their  number,  give  concrete  evidence  of  this  mar- 
velous development.  But  more  significant  than  the  church 
buildings,  more  meaningful  than  the  numerical  strength  of 
the  church,  is  the  character  of  its  congregations.  Without 
humbug  or  sentimentalism,  any  outsider  can  and  must  admit 
that  Christian  Science  people  are  good  people.  They  not 
only  believe  in  their  church  and  attend  its  meetings  with 
a  passionate  faithfulness  that  other  churches  envy,  but 
they  also  carry  their  faith  with  them  into  their  daily  lives. 
By  its  very  nature  they  have  to.  For  if  Christian  Science 
means  anything  to  any  man  or  woman,  it  must  mean 
everything. 

It  is  this  inherent  strength  in  the  fundamental  idea  of 
Mrs.  Eddy's  church  that  will  hold  it  together  even  after 
her  hand  has  been  removed  from  its  direction.  The  faith 
will  still  live.  Only  by  a  full  realization  of  this  fact  can 
the  outside  world  gain  any  comprehension  of  the  calm  ex- 
altation of  spirit  with  which  Christian  Scientists  will  re- 
ceive the  tidings  that  the  earthly  career  of  their  Leader  has 
closed.  Only  in  this  way  can  it  understand  dimly  their  fine 
and  vivid  belief  that  "there  is  no  death"  in  the  old  pagan 
sense  of  that  solemn  word. 

[Boston  Traveler] 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  one  of  the  world's  greatest  bene- 
factors.    Her  followers  will  say  more  than  that,  perhaps, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS        •  19 

but  there  is  no  reason  why  even  her  enemies  should  say 
less.  Regardless  of  differences  of  faith  or  philosophy,  the 
world  must  recognize,  in  her  work,  a  vast  contribution  to 
human  happiness.  Certain  it  is  that  Mrs.  Eddy  found  the 
world  full  of  doubt  and  despondency,  and  gave  it  a  larger 
measure  of  brightness  and  hope.  She  taught  the  weak 
that  they  need  not  be  weak,  the  sick  that  they  might  be  well, 
the  suffering  that  they  had  it  within  themselves  to  end 
their  wretchedness.  Those  who  were  ailing,  physically  or 
mentally,  were  enabled,  as  she  herself  had  been,  to  become 
strong  in  soul  and  body.  Neurasthenia  and  melancholy 
yielded  to  the  gospel  of  optimism. 

Call  it  what  you  will,  it  is  a  fact  that  Christian  Scien- 
tists, as  a  class,  are  healthy,  hopeful,  happy,  and  prosper- 
ous. And  Christian  Science  modes  of  thought  have  per- 
meated the  thinking  of  the  world,  outside  the  pale  of  the 
church.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  a  teacher  when  the 
teaching  bears  such  fruit.  And  as  Mrs.  Eddy,  full  of  years, 
goes  to  her  rest,  the  world  is  full  of  gratitude  for  the  good 
she  has  done. 

[Boston  Transcript] 

It  is  peculiarly  characteristic  of  Massachusetts,  so  gen- 
erally derided  as  hard-fisted,  unsentimental,  and  ultra-prac- 
tical, that  here  spiritual  and  emotional  ideas  take  strongest 
root.  Not  ideas  and  practices  that  connote  spectacular 
demonstrations,  but  those  that  lie  close  to  the  fundamentals 
of  life.  This  fact  has  led  to  the  sneer  at  Boston  and 
Massachusetts  as  the  home  and  favorite  haunt  of  fanatics, 
and  such  zealots  are  rather  pleased  to  be  so  called.  The 
anti-slavery  propagandists  delighted  in  the  term.  So  did 
the  spiritualists,  and  we  have  not  known  much  resentment 
of  it  from  the  devotees  of  the  cause  whose  Founder  passed 
on  Saturday  night.  Of  all  these  causes,  Christian  Science 
has  flourished  most  and  most  amazingly.  And  that  growth 
has  come  in  a  period  that  we  are  used  to  calling  especially 
commercialized,  narrow,  and  sordid.  Indeed,  many  per- 
sons regard  its  success  as  due  almost  wholly  to  a  natural 


20  •  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

revulsion  or  at  least  reaction  from  this  overmaterialistic 
public  spirit.  That  may  account  for  its  growth,  but  it  can 
hardly  account  for  its  origin,  which  was  certainly  due  to 
the  genius  of  one  woman. 

What  a  rise  and  growth  it  has  had!  It  is  the  only  world 
religion,  so  far  as  we  can  now  remember,  that  had  its  rise 
in  an  English-speaking  country,  and  is  the  only  new  one 
that  has  been  created  for  centuries.  Wonderful  spiritual 
forces  must  have  been  set  at  work  to  accomplish  this  mar- 
velous result.  Somewhere  in  it  must  be  germs  of  truth. 
Otherwise  its  story  would  be  utterly  inexplicable.  No  other 
recent  cause  has  had  such  tremendous  territorial  extent, 
either  in  this  country  or  in  the  world.  All  these  things  must 
be  conceded  by  those  to  whom  Christian  Science  is  utterly 
enigmatical  or  anathema.  These  cannot  understand  the 
theory  of  its  application,  but  they  must  admit  the  beneficent 
results  that  often  come  from  this  treatment  and  they  recog- 
nize the  satisfaction  which  Mrs.  Eddy  had  a  right  to  feel 
over  the  triumph  of  her  cause.  Few  founders  of  a  religion 
have  been  so  rewarded  in  beholding  the  tangible  success 
of  their  labors.  Most  of  these  founders  died  in  ignominy 
and  defeat. 

[Springfield  (Mass.)  Union] 

No  just  or  accurate  estimate  of  the  character  and  work 
of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  is  possible  at  this  time,  and  anything 
that  may  be  attempted  in  that  direction  must  necessarily 
fail  of  the  approval  of  a  very  considerable  number  of  peo- 
ple. About  no  personage  of  her  generation  has  so  much 
and  such  bitter  controversy  raged  as  around  the  Founder 
and  Leader  of  the  organization  and  doctrines  known  as 
Christian  Science,  who  has  just  died.  The  facts  of  her  life 
and  the  very  question  of  her  existence  in  recent  years,  as 
well  as  the  value  of  her  teachings  and  example,  have  been 
a  subject  of  fierce  and  acrimonious  contention.  Many  years 
must  elapse  before  an  adequate  and  fair  summing  up  of 
her  work  can  be  made.  But,  from  whatever  view-point 
one  regards  the  subject,  it  is  beyond  the  possibility  of  dispute 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  21 

that  she  was  one  of  the  most  influential  as  well  as  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  figures  of  the  age. 

In  the  last  few  years  the  power  and  vitality  of  the 
Christian  Science  movement  has  been  shown  more  clearly 
than  at  any  previous  time.  However  much  Christian  Science 
has  been  overestimated  as  a  reformative  and  constructive 
agent,  however  strained  or  unsound  some  of  its  tenets 
may  be,  it  has  unquestionably  been  a  force  to  influence 
thought  and  religious  institution,  and  its  effect  has  been 
felt  far  beyond  the  membership  of  the  Christian  Science 
organization.  The  dignity  of  her  bearing,  the  patience  and 
self-control  she  has  displayed  in  the  most  trying  emergen- 
cies, have  been  no  slight  contribution  to  the  success  of 
her  cause.  To  have  preached  uniformly  the  doctrine  of 
peace  and  love  to  so  many  listeners,  year  after  year,  is  in 
itself  a  great  thing.  In  the  element  referred  to  as  "healing" 
Mrs.  Eddy  seems  to  have  touched  a  spring  that  is  giving 
religion  a  new  impulse  in  modern  life.  How  deep  and 
how  genuine  this  really  is,  must  be  left  to  the  future  to 
determine. 

[Lynchburg  (Va.)  News] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  may  properly  be  estimated  as 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  age.  As  the 
Founder  of  a  new  religious  cult;  as  the  projector  of  what  she 
believed  was  the  true  Science  of  Christianity;  as  the  builder 
of  a  great  church  with  ramifications  reaching  all  over  the 
nation  and  beyond  its  borders,  she  has  long  stood  out  as  a 
bright  and  shining  target  for  the  arrows  of  vituperation, 
of  ridicule,  of  scorn,  of  implacable  hostility,  of  the  bitter- 
est of  cynicism  and  the  harshest  of  jeers.  It  was  because 
she  survived  these  things;  because  the  storm  and  tempest 
which  beat  upon  her  availed  not  to  drive  her  from  the  doc- 
trines for  which  she  stood ;  because  amid  the  stress  of  almost 
superhuman  trial,  and  the  fierce  avalanche  of  opposing  ar- 
guments, she  serenely  held  safe  poise  of  mind,  and  fealty 
to  conviction,  and  fidelity  to  purpose,  that  she  should  be 
accounted  great.  Though  everything  in  which  she  be- 
lieved  and   which   she   taught   should   hereafter   fall   and 


22  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

crumble  beneath  the  assaults  of  logic  and  research  and 
demonstration;  though  with  her  death  should  also  be  wit- 
nessed the  decadence  and  the  early  death  of  Christian 
Science, — things  which  we  by  no  means  predict, — yet  Mrs. 
Eddy's  place  in  history  would  be  secure  as  one  who  achieved 
to  tremendous  purpose;  who  wrought  mighty  results;  who 
was  revered  by  vast  hosts  of  intelligent,  God-fearing  men 
and  women  and  children  as  the  mighty  mistress  of  a  cause 
that  was  noble  in  objective  and  good  in  inspiration;  that 
accomplished  much  in  affording  relief  from  human  ills  and 
the  peace  of  mind  for  those  who  craved  and  needed  help- 
ful ministration. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  believe  in  Mind-healing  as  Mrs. 
Eddy  believed  in  it,  to  accord  her  this  distinction.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  give  intellectual  acceptance  to  the  creed  of  her 
church,  to  concede  that  Mrs.  Eddy  nobly  lived  and  worked 
and  aspired — and  that  she  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the 
most  striking,  the  most  interesting,  and  the  strongest  figures 
that  ever  graced  and  distinguished  the  annals  of  her  sex. 

[Montreal  Star] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  death  leaves  her  work,  which  was  that  of 
building  up  the  Christian  Science  organization,  well  en- 
trenched, with  all  the  necessary  and  visible  signs  of  a  thor- 
oughly officered  going-concern.  There  are  churches  in 
abundance,  a  great  newspaper,  bands  of  devoted  adherents, 
whose  "daily  walk  and  conversation"  are  examples  to  the 
best  communities  in  the  world.  The  movement  has  spread 
so  that  its  followers  may  now  be  found  in  almost  all  of 
the  English-speaking  countries,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in 
the  rest  of  the  world.  With  Mrs.  Eddy's  disappearance,  in 
all  human  probability,  the  course  of  her  followers  will  vary 
little,  and  the  cause  she  espoused  will  probably  suffer  no 
imme'diate  negation. 

[Atlanta  (Ga.)  Constitution] 

One  need  not  be  a  subscriber  to  or  even  a  sympathizer 
with  the  creed  of  Christian  Science  to  recognize  its  Founder, 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  23 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  as  a  remarkable  and  achieving 
figure  of  history.  Founders  of  religions  and  creeds  there 
have  been  in  plenty,  but  not  in  our  day,  at  least,  has  there 
risen  one  to  build  so  staunch  and  so  phenomenally  an  in- 
creasing following  as  that  which  pays  tribute  to  Mrs.  Eddy 
as  its  originator  and  Leader. 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  it  remains  that  this  woman 
taught  and  achieved  in  large  measure  that  conquest  of  the 
flesh  by  the  Spirit  that  is  all  too  sadly  needed  in  an  age 
engrossed  with  the  lure  of  substance.  She  disseminated 
happiness  and  cheerfulness  among  men  and  women,  inspired 
hopefulness  to  those  that  were  sick  of  heart  and  gave  many 
a  battle-weary  spirit  courage  to  face  once  more  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  dawn.  By  whatever  term  it  be  described, 
that  accomplishment  stands  for  the  furtherance  of  good 
and  the  encouragement  of  uplift.  And,  on  the  personal 
side,  there  are  elements  of  greatness  in  a  woman  who  could 
win  and  so  persistently  hold  the  love  and  absolute  confidence 
of  a  following  mounting  into  the  many  thousands. 

[Inland  Herald,  Spokane,  Wash.] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  from  earth  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  characters  of  history.  In  a  full 
and  consecrated  life  of  nearly  ninety  years  she  accomplished 
two  things,  either  of  which  would  have  crowned  her  with 
immortality.  The  American  business  man  is  not  only  over- 
worked but  overwrought  and  overworried.  His  practical 
training  affords  him  no  philosophy.  His  one  need  is  the 
serenity  and  relaxation  of  mental  rest.  He  needs  a  mental 
anchorage  that  at  the  same  time  sustains  and  buoys,  but 
across  the  anchor  which  he  throws  out  into  the  unknown 
seas  must  be  written  "absolute  certainty."  There  must  be 
no  questionings. 

Christian  Science  affords  its  believers  just  that.  Its  car- 
dinal doctrines  of  the  final  supremacy  of  eternal  good  and 
the  swift  doom  of  imagined  evil  are  doctrines  which,  put 
into  practice,  confer  a  calm  serenity  and  unshakable  con- 
fidence that  is  only  good.    Christian  Science  is  a  practical. 


24  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

inspiring  religion.  It  was  born  of  a  woman,  and  it  has 
been  baptized  in  the  tears  of  grateful  millions.  In  its  pro- 
mulgation Mary  Baker  Eddy  has  answered  the  cry  of  thou- 
sands of  tired  hearts.  In  this,  if  in  nothing  else,  she  has 
been  a  great  benefactor  to  the  world. 

Her  second  great  achievement  has  been  the  organization 
of  a  mighty  church  in  a  single  lifetime.  She  accomplished 
in  one  generation  that  which  followed  only  centuries  after 
every  other  great  religious  leader.  No  other  founder  of  a 
great  church  ever  lived  to  see  his  work  complete.  Neither 
Confucius,  Gautama,  or  St.  Augustine  ever  beheld  the  fruit 
of  his  teachings  materialize  as  Mary  Baker  Eddy  did.  Few 
will  mourn  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  as  other  deaths 
are  mourned.  Her  own  doctrines  preclude  that.  Moreover, 
her  personality  was  something  apart,  always  above  and 
apart,  and  but  little  known  and  understood.  But,  what- 
ever the  verdict  of  the  ages  shall  be,  Mary  Baker  Eddy 
to-day  sits  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  and  thou- 
sands of  admiring  followers,  her  remarkable  accomplish- 
ments an  epitome  of  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  and 
potent  personalities  the  world  has  known. 

[Butte  (Mont.)  Evening  News] 

The  United  States  has  lost,  in  the  death  of  Mary  Baker 
Eddy,  one  of  the  truly  remarkable  characters  of  the  century. 
That  in  this  practical  age  the  beliefs  and  theories  of  Mrs. 
Eddy  interested  and  held  nearly  a  million  people  sincere 
and  devoted  to  their  Leader,  and  that  this  fidelity  continued 
year  after  year  with  increasing  force,  demonstrates  not 
only  that  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  woman  of  superior  intellect,  but 
that  she  was  one  of  innate  goodness  to  have  stood  the  test 
of  time.  Mrs.  Eddy's  accomplishment  is  remarkable  in 
that  it  was  attained  without  evangelizing  or  proselyting. 
Her  church  might  be  called  a  natural  growth,  and  it  grew 
with  the  dignity  which  characterized  the  woman  herself. 
It  had  chiefly  to  contend  with  ridicule  of  the  practical  class, 
whose  materialistic  natures  could  not  and  would  not  accept 
the  teaching  of  the  woman.     Some  responsive  chord  her 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  25 

teaching  certainly  found  in  the  public  mind,  and  nothing 
has  ever  shown  that  her  influence  was  other  than  good. 
Even  if  Mrs.  Eddy  accomplished  nothing  more,  she  ef- 
fected in  her  followers  a  mental  harmony  which  in  this 
busy  land,  with  its  tendencies  to  discord,  was  in  itself — to 
those  who  needed  it — a  benison. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  disinterestedness  stands  out  prominently. 
She  is  free  from  the  accusation  of  promoting  her  own 
worldly  affairs  at  the  expense  of  her  zealots.  The  fruits 
of  her  years  of  labor  revert  to  the  organization  she  planned 
and  perfected.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  most  striking  example 
the  century  has  had  of  the  power  of  repose;  hers  was  not 
a  church  militant  and  her  church  was  the  antithesis  of 
that  of  the  evangelical  whirling  dervish  whose  creed  is  as 
transient  as  it  is  tempestuous.  From  all  walks  of  life,  high 
and  low,  Mrs.  Eddy  recruited  her  army  of  followers;  hers 
was  no  appeal  to  any  particular  class,  nor  to  any  particular 
nationality,  and  in  point  of  universality  in  America  the 
sect  was  in  a  class  by  itself.  Few  will  advance  the  theory 
that  Mrs.  Eddy  has  not  left  the  world  better  than  she 
found  it. 

[Kennebec  Journal,  Augusta,  Me.] 

In  the  death  of  the  Founder  of  Christian  Science,  Amer- 
ica has  lost  another  of  its  greatest  women.  However  much 
we  may  have  disagreed  with  her  or  have  criticized  her  ut- 
terances, we  can  but  admit  her  greatness  and  the  remark- 
able power  she  had  of  leading.  She  founded  a  -religious 
sect  that  has  shaken  the  foundations  of  every  evangelical 
church  in  the  country.  Her  life  has  added  one  more  proof 
that  humanity  longs  for  a  belief  in  the  spiritual,  for  trust 
in  a  higher  power  and  for  visual  evidence  of  its  agency. 
Mrs.  Eddy's  religion  appealed  to  the  sick,  the  afflicted,  and 
the  hypochondriac,  where  others  appealed  to  the  outcast 
and  the  forsaken.  She  won  largely,  and  the  force  of  her 
character  will  be  felt  in  her  church  for  all  time.  Regard- 
less of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  Christian  Science,  it  has 
become  an  unmistakable  influence  of  the  century.     Mrs. 


26  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

Eddy  built  a  church  which  has  drawn  to  it  persons  of  cul- 
ture, education,  and  property,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that 
it  will  go  on. 

[Philadelphia  Public  Ledger] 

Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  the  world  at  large  upon 
the  doctrines  inculcated  by  the  church  of  which  she  was  the 
Founder,  it  is  a  question  whether  Mary  Baker  Eddy  in  the 
building  up  of  this  organization  of  half  a  million  fervently 
loyal  adherents  has  not  outdone  the  achievement  of  any 
other  woman  who  ever  lived.  There  has  been  many  a 
woman  who  "led  her  soul,  her  cause,  her  clan"  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  a  great  humanitarian  undertaking — who 
notably  contributed  to  the  promotion  of  temperance,  to  the 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  slaves  or  prisoners,  to  the  effec- 
tiveness of  missionary  labor  in  the  domestic  or  the  foreign 
field,  or  to  the  alleviatory  ministration  to  invalids  in  hos- 
pitals in  war-time  or  in  times  of  peace.  The  world  has  quite 
recently  been  called  upon  to  mourn  the  passing  of  two  such 
women — Florence  Nightingale  and  Julia  Ward  Howe,  both 
of  whom  were  of  approximately  the  age  of  Mrs.  Eddy  when 
they  obeyed  the  summons  of  the  invisible.  But  Mrs.  Eddy 
was  more  than  philanthropist  and  humanitarian.  To  create 
such  a  church  and  to  inspire  a  following  so  numerous  and 
so  devoted,  Mrs.  Eddy  must  have  been  a  woman  of  alto- 
gether extraordinary  personal  endowments. 

[Denver  (Colo.)  Times] 

Mrs.  Eddy  appeared  in  an  age  when  men  had  begun 
to  cast  off  the  outward  observance  of  religious  teachings. 
Success  was  the  fetish  men  were  worshiping.  When  she 
first  spoke  the  greater  part  of  the  world  smiled  and  shrugged 
its  shoulders.  What  did  a  woman  know  of  soul  life?  But 
as  Joan  of  Arc  led  a  nation  out  of  bondage,  Mrs.  Eddy 
pointed  the  way  to  a  delectable  land  of  Spirit  in  which 
hundreds  of  thousands  have  found  consolation.  We  may 
not  agree  with  the  declarations  of  Mrs.  Eddy;  we  may  not 
be  of  the  opinion  that  they  will  be  as  universally  accepted 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  27 

as  some  of  the  older  religious  ideas,  but  we  do  think  that 
Mrs.  Eddy  deserves  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  man- 
kind. Any  one  who  has  endeavored  to  make  this  earth  a 
more  pleasant  abiding-place  deserves  well  of  his  fellow- 
men.  Of  late  years  much  mystery  enveloped  Mrs.  Eddy. 
The  charge  was  made  that  she  had  died  and  that  an  impos- 
tor was  parading  in  her  place.  However,  the  world  had 
come  to  accept  the  statement  made  by  those  closely  as- 
sociated with  her,  that  she  was  still  among  the  living.  The 
announcement  of  her  death  brushes  aside  all  former  dec- 
larations regarding  her  material  condition. 

Hypatia  helped  rekindle  the  waning  fires  of  culture; 
Queen  Victoria  and  other  splendid  women  have  builded 
material  empires,  but  as  the  world  hurried  on  its  endless 
journey  the  religious  life  of  the  people  has  been  carried 
unfalteringly  by  women.  And  Mrs.  Eddy  stands  as  one 
who  has  made  sweetness  and  light  enter  far  places. 

[Rocky  Mountain  News,  Denver,  Col.] 

Christian  Science  is  a  solace,  a  support,  and  an  inspira- 
tian  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  human  creatures.  To 
them  it  is  more  precious  than  their  daily  bread.  In  its 
comforting  power  to  its  followers  it  is  entitled  to  the  world's 
reverence;  and  therefore  the  name  of  its  Founder  must 
claim  the  world's  respect. 

Happily  Mary  Baker  Eddy  lived  long  enough  to  see 
the  sneer  give  place  to  admiration.  The  new  religion,  or 
philosophy,  or  "Science,"  was  compelled  to  make  its  stand 
in  a  nation  much  given  to  scoffing  and  in  an  age  of  free 
debate.  That  it  has  survived  and  flourished,  that  its 
Founder  overcame  all  evil  report,  must  be  attributed  to  the 
deep  spiritual  effectiveness  of  the  personality  and  the  ab- 
solute answer  of  the  faith  to  the  needs  of  its  devotees. 
No  one  now  doubts  that  Mrs.  Eddy  sincerely  believed  in 
her  mission  to  mankind.  The  fair-minded  world  acknowl- 
edges that  she  possessed  a  rare  endowment  of  inward  vision 
and  external  influence,  and  that  she  sought  to  bless  her 
fellow-beings  with  her  "Science"  of  absolute  health.     In 


28  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

that  bestowal,  her  labor  was  a  "marvelous  work  and  a 
wonder."  And  through  unnumbered  generations  and  by 
countless  millions  of  devotees  she  will  be  revered  as  the 
most  inspired  woman  of  all  time. 

There  is  always  a  possibility  of  schism  in  a  church  when 
it  comes  to  its  first  loss  of  leadership.  But  in  the  case  of 
the  Christian  Science  cult  such  division  is  not  now  prob- 
able. The  creed  and  practice  have  been  settled  within  well- 
defined  lines;  the  membership  is  an  intelligent  democracy; 
and  not  even  ambitious  or  avaricious  rivalries  would  be  able 
to  disintegrate  the  fabric.  From  the  days  of  popular  "ex- 
posure" and  ridicule,  Christian  Science  has  moved  quietly 
and  efficiently  onward  to  its  present  high  station.  It  has 
brought  peace  to  many  tempest- worn  lives;  it  has  given 
health  to  many  pain-racked  bodies;  it  has  conferred  content 
upon  many  tortured  minds;  it  has  established  faith  and 
cheerfulness,  where  formerly  was  despair  of  this  world  and 
doubt  of  the  hereafter.  For  all  the  beauty  and  usefulness 
which  it  has  given  to  a  million  lives,  the  faith  is  to  be 
revered  and  the  name  of  its  Founder  is  to  be  held  in  grate- 
ful remembrance. 

[Askeville  (N.  C.)  Citizen] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  marks  the  passing  of  a  most 
remarkable  figure  in  the  religious  world.  Wielding  a  won- 
derful influence  over  a  great  army,  and  it  was  undoubtedly 
an  influence  for  good,  it  being  reflected  in  the  lives  of  thou- 
sands of  her  followers,  she  needed  no  brass  bands  to  make 
the  world  conscious  of  her  presence.  While  many  there  are 
who  could  not  fathom  the  depths  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  teach- 
ings, few  have  denied  her  sincerity.  Her  writings  bear  the 
imprint  of  the  close  student  of  God  and  man.  Her  gospel 
was  largely  one  of  sunshine  and  mental  uplift.  Of  her 
home  life  we  know  but  little,  but  from  all  accounts  it  was 
an  exemplary  one. 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  also  a  woman  of  rare  moral  courage 
when  we  consider  that  forty  years  ago  she  founded  a  creed 
at  total  variance  with  all  established  beliefs.  The  doctrines 
she  enunciated  at  that  time  had  no  other  adherent  than 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  29 

herself.  The  scorn  and  ridicule  which  greeted  her  first 
book  has  given  place  to  a  wide-spread  interest,  and  a  great 
portion  of  humanity  to-day  believes  that  the  pill  and  potion 
are  not  essential  to  the  cure  of  disease. 

[News  Tribune,  Duluth,  Minn.] 

Not  Christian  Scientists  alone,  but  people  of  all  faiths 
and  no  faith,  join  in  tributes  to  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  the  world  has  produced. 
What  the  doctrinal  teachings  of  Christian  Science  are,  we 
do  not  know;  we  do  not  know  wherein  its  interpretation 
of  the  Bible  differs  from  that  of  the  evangelical  churches. 
We  do  not  understand  the  Principle  underlying  its  healing; 
we  cannot,  to  our  own  satisfaction,  differentiate  between 
the  subconscious  and  the  divine  Mind.  But  this  is  known 
to  all,  that  Christ  gave  to  his  disciples  power  "to  heal  all 
manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of  disease,"  and  this 
power  was  not  limited  to  the  twelve. 

Moreover,  its  teachings  are  accepted,  not  by  cranks  and 
faddists,  not  by  those  always  seeking  something  new,  but 
by  the  educated,  the  cultured,  the  thoughtful,  and  the  stu- 
dent. Whatever  its  secret  may  be,  it  has  produced  a  won- 
derful faith,  a  marvelous  spirit  that  shows  in  a  power  of 
self-command,  of  self-denial,  of  sympathy,  and  helpfulness 
that  is  truly  Christian.  It  has  brought  a  new  power  into 
the  world,  which  has  gained  its  way  against  the  fiercest 
and  most  stubborn  prejudice,  against  ridicule,  scorn,  and 
almost  ostracism,  until  it  has  compelled  recognition  and  re- 
spect, with  the  acknowledgment  of  its  permanency.  To-day, 
while  millions  profess  open  allegiance  to  Christian  Science, 
many  more  express  a  sympathetic  interest  in  it.  From  a 
mysterious,  sort  of  uncanny,  and  somewhat  dangerous  cult, 
allied  with  the  black  art,  to  be  approached  only  by  those 
insulated  in  dread  and  suspicion,  it  has  taken  its  place  as  a 
faith  and  as  a  church. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  dominance  has  also  been  resented.  She  has 
been  misinterpreted,  maligned,  and  persecuted.  Volumes 
have  been  written  against  her.    Her  power  as  an  executive, 


30  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

her  administrative  ability,  and  her  gift  of  organization  were 
as  wonderful  as  the  faith  she  founded.  Yet  that  she  built 
her  structure  on  broad,  sound,  permanent  administrative 
principles,  instead  of  founding  a  house  of  cards  on  shifting 
sands,  has  been  the  cause  of  most  of  the  attacks  personal  to 
her.  In  this,  however,  her  experience  was  no  different  from 
that  of  any  other  great  and  strong  personality  in  the  world's 
history,  and  few  have  left  to  the  world  a  greater  heritage. 

[Democrat,  Johnstown,  Pa.] 

Whatever  may  be  the  judgment  of  history  concerning 
this  remarkable  woman  and  the  great  organization  which 
she  was  largely  instrumental  in  building  up,  this  much  at 
least  must  be  said  now:  Mrs.  Eddy  has  profoundly  influ- 
enced the  lives  of  many  thousands  of  people,  and  this  in- 
fluence exerted  through  the  Christian  Science  church  is 
likely  to  live  long  after  her  frail  earthly  body  shall  have 
moldered  into  indistinguishable  dust. 

[Times,  Louisville,  Ky.] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  is  mourned  by  a  million  of  her 
followers.  We  are  too  near  in  time  to  measure  in  full  the 
meaning  or  the  value  of  her  work,  but  the  force  of  her 
personality  and  the  influence  of  her  teachings  have  been 
established  permanently  beyond  all  question.  No  more  re- 
markable woman  has  been  born  in  this  country  and  none 
whose  work  is  more  certain  to  live  after  her.  Christians 
and  scientists  may  differ  as  to  her  teachings,  but  in  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  thousands  they  have  won  and  kept  a 
place  and  power  that  have  worked  mightily  in  the  molding 
of  religious  thought. 

[Milwaukee  Daily  News] 

History  is  full  of  the  tales  of  women  whose  influence  has 
been  a  power  in  the  affairs  of  men.  But,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  have  risen 
on  the  written  pages  of  history  attained  their  power  through 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  31 

charms  of  person  and  through  their  influence  with  men  of 
power.  But  the  leading  woman  of  her  time,  and  among  the 
greatest  in  history,  rose  to  her  high  place  through  the  power 
of  that  which  is  most  eternal  in  mankind — thought. 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  not  born  to  power,  nor  did  she  seek  the  in- 
fluence of  those  who  were  so  born.  By  the  force  of  the 
thought  that  she  expressed  and  lived  has  she  attained  the 
high  place  she  holds  to-day,  and  by  its  force  will  she  live. 
No  matter  what  individuals  may  think  of  the  system  of 
thought  that  bears  her  name,  it  is  an  acknowledged  power 
for  good  among  mankind,  and  thousands  have  found  com- 
fort and  relief  through  its  teachings. 

[Dallas  (Tex.)  News] 

To  have  founded  a  faith  which  has  its  followers  wherever 
there  is  civilization,  and  counts  them  by  the  hundred  thou- 
sand, is  of  itself  title  to  such  fame  as  few  men,  and  fewer 
women  earn.  At  least  this  tribute  to  Mrs.  Eddy  men  of 
all  creeds,  as  well  as  the  creedless,  may  unite  in  giving,  for 
it  involves  no  question  as  to  their  agreement  with  the  tenets 
of  the  faith  which  she  either  revived  or  instituted.  Indeed, 
it  ought  to  be  possible  to  pay  her  higher  tribute  than  that 
without  arousing  sectarian  controversy;  for  we  think  it  is 
indisputable  that  the  faith  she  taught  has  quickened  with 
hope  and  joy  the  souls  of  multitudes  in  whom  other  creeds 
inspired  only  a  perfunctory  morality.  Thus  it  has  justified 
its  existence,  proved  that  there  was  room  for  it. 

Mrs.  Eddy  and  that  little  band  first  won  by  her  teaching 
have  suffered  the  sting  of  hostile  gossip  and  have  often 
been  isolated  by  a  social  ostracism,  but  at  least  they  have  not 
felt  the  sword  nor  known  the  gibbet  and  the  stake;  more- 
over, they  have  pressed  more  rapidly  than  most  new  creeds 
did  into  the  circle  of  toleration.  The  world  at  large  may 
still  look  at  them  askance,  but  only  in  the  backwoods  are 
they  any  longer  objects  of  curiosity.  Men  are  coming 
rapidly  to  see  that  with  them  at  least  their  faith  is  real. 
They  exemplify  it  in  their  daily  conduct  with  a  fidelity 
that  compares  favorably  at  least  with  the  fidelity  with  which 


32  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

the  followers  of  any  other  creed  manifest  their  faith;  and 
as  men  behold  it  thus  exemplified,  they  have  come  to  see 
that,  instead  of  being  incompatible  with  Christian  morality, 
it  imposes  a  standard  of  ethics  in  which  other  Christians 
can  find  no  flaw  and  conceptions  of  life  beyond  the  grave 
that  imply  the  highest  degree  of  religious  optimism. 

It  is  this  optimism  that  contrasts  so  forcibly  with  some 
other  phases  of  religious  thought  which  would  have  us  re- 
gard this  earthly  life  a  vale  of  tears.  From  it  has  sprung 
that  confidence  in  the  unlimited  possibilities  of  the  human 
soul  which  has  literally  transformed  the  physical  as  well 
as  the  spiritual  life  of  thousands  of  its  adherents. 

[Herald,  Washington,  D.  C] 

The  death  in  her  ninetieth  year  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker 
Eddy,  Founder  and  Leader  of  the  Christian  Science  church 
and  system  of  faith,  is  an  event  that  will  profoundly  stir 
practically  every  city  and  community  throughout  the  United 
States,  so  universal  was  the  spread  of  her  doctrines  and  the 
congregations  of  her  followers.  Already  from  her  adher- 
ents have  come  expressions  of  regret  and  outpourings  of 
love — all  of  these  tinctured  with  a  beautiful  faith  of  the 
orthodox  Christian  kind  which  allows  the  believer  in  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  say  over  the  bier  of  a  beloved 
one:  "She  is  not  dead,  but  sleeping." 

As  to  the  doctrines  of  Christian  Science  which  Mrs.  Eddy 
promulgated  with  such  success,  there  is  still  a  wide  diversity 
of  opinion,  but  we  think  all  will  agree  that  there  is  much 
that  is  inspiring  and  helpful,  even  to  the  most  orthodox, 
in  Mrs.  Eddy's  teachings;  and  the  unprejudiced,  those  not 
of  her  faith,  but  of  open  mind,  must  in  justice  admit  that 
her  work,  through  long  years,  was  always  for  the  betterment 
and  the  uplift  of  mankind. 

The  religious  system  she  taught  was  a  system  of  opti- 
mism; her  promulgations  agreed  closely  with  the  teachings 
and  practices  of  Jesus  Christ.  She  taught  the  gospel  of 
right  thinking  and  right  living;  she  taught,  in  other  words 
and  phrases,  the  gospel  that  "a  man's  work  lives  after  him," 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  33 

and  that,  so  far,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  death.  And  we 
shall  find,  we  think,  that  her  own  career  will  exemplify  this 
teaching,  for  though  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  is  dead  in  the 
flesh,  we  know  that  she  shall  live  in  the  spirit;  that  the  work 
to  which  she  put  her  hand  shall  go  on,  informed  always 
with  the  soul  of  love  and  charity  and  hopefulness  and 
faith,  to  comfort  many  to  whom  the  old  creeds  and  forms 
no  longer  have  appeal.  For,  without  going  into  the  minute 
particulars  of  the  forms  of  Christian  Science — and  of  these 
there  are  but  few — the  fact  remains  that  fundamentally  the 
faith  of  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  followers  was  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  was  faith  in  the  eternal  goodness  of  things;  the 
faith  that  destroys  evil  and  works  bravely  for  the  good. 

"God  is  my  life"  are  reputed  to  be  her  last  written  words; 
words  of  strong  faith  that,  could  they  be  reechoed  by  every 
man,  would  make  the  world  a  happier  and  better  place  to 
live  in.  Hers  was  the  gospel  of  salvation  by  work  aided 
by  prayer,  and  perhaps  the  one  point  on  which  those  outside 
of  her  church  were  unable  to  follow  her  was  in  her  positive 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  to  resolve  all  human  doubts 
and  cure  all  human  ills.  But,  even  in  our  inability  to  follow 
Mrs.  Eddy  thus  far,  we  are,  after  all,  but  confessing  that 
our  faith  in  God's  word  was  less  than  hers.  For  it  is  true, 
as  Tennyson  phrased  it,  that — 

More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of.    Wherefore,  let  thy  voice 
Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day. 
For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats 
That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain 
If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 
Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend? 
For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 

[South  Bend  (Ind.)  News] 

As  the  Leader  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  religious 
movements  the  world  has  ever  witnessed,  Mrs.  Eddy  found 
it  necessary  as  well  as  agreeable  to  her  to  live  in  dignified 


34  MARY   BAKER   EDDY 

seclusion,  appearing  to  the  followers  of  her  faith  at  times 
when  the  proprieties  called  for  her  presence. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  life  was  notable  for  its  longevity  as  well 
as  for  its  purity,  beauty,  and  usefulness.  She  was  born 
ninety  years  ago  in  Bow,  New  Hampshire,  and  her  youth 
was  spent  in  sympathetic  touch  with  the  picturesque  beauty 
of  nature  for  which  the  region  is  famed.  Her  great  grand- 
father was  a  man  of  honored  reputation  and  bore  a  com- 
mission conferred  by  the  provincial  assembly.  Her  father 
and  grandfather  were  sturdy  farmers  who  fostered  in  their 
children  the  elements  of  a  noble  character.  The  intellectual 
tastes  and  assertive  strength  of  her  father  and  the  piety 
and  loving  winsomeness  of  her  mother  were  united  in  her 
nature,  and  one  who  knew  her  intimately  in  her  girlhood 
has  spoken  of  her  as  being  distinguished  even  then  for 
"superior  ability  and  scholarship,  her  depth  and  independ- 
ence of  thought,  and  her  spiritual-mindedness,"  all  of  which 
were  prophetic  of  her  future  work  in  the  world. 

The  education  of  the  young  girl  was  given  careful  consid- 
eration by  her  parents,  and  at  sixteen  her  fertile  pen  and 
her  ceaseless  inquiry  and  investigation  began  to  disclose  that 
instinct  of  the  poet  and  truth-seeker  which  in  later  years 
was  to  achieve  such  beneficent  and  far-reaching  results. 
She  is  said  to  have  been  constantly  seeking  that  revelation 
of  truth  which  would  bring  her  heart  assurance  and  peace, 
and  she  followed  the  path  which  leads  from  the  plane  of 
common  experience  to  the  higher  levels  of  spiritual  appre- 
hension. In  an  hour  of  hopeless  physical  suffering  she  is 
said  to  have  reached  such  a  realization  of  the  present  heal- 
ing potency  of  the  Master's  word  that  she  was  immedi- 
ately made  whole.  This  was  in  1866,  and  since  that  time 
Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  devoted  to  the  teaching  of  her  faith 
and  its  practical  application  to  human  needs. 

The  visible  results  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  work  are  found  in  the 
establishment  of  nearly  a  thousand  churches  in  this  and 
other  countries,  where  the  Christian  Science  faith  is  taught, 
and  more  than  a  million  followers  of  that  faith.  Perhaps 
no  religious  movement  was  ever  more  derided  and  obstructed 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  35 

in  its  progress,  but  it  has  steadily  advanced,  and  in  some 
particulars,  especially  in  the  building  of  churches  without 
an  entailment  of  indebtedness,  has  set  a  new  and  commend- 
able example. 

[Birmingham  (Ala.)  News] 

In  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  there  passes  from  the  stage 
of  life  not  only  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  that 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  but  a  woman  remarkable  in  a  most 
distinctive  way.  In  the  past,  women  have  commanded 
armies  and  ruled  empires,  but  Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  first  of 
her  sex  to  found  a  religion,  and  in  this  work  her  greatness 
lies,  not  in  the  line  of  invention  or  discovery. 

It  remained  for  Mrs.  Eddy  to  assert  the  absolute  non- 
reality  of  matter  and  to  pronounce  the  belief  in  its  existence 
the  source  of  all  evil,  both  spiritual  and  physical.  And  she 
did  this  with  a  bareness,  a  force  and  a  persistence  that  won 
from  their  former  moorings  not  only  minds  mystical  by 
nature,  but  also  minds  pronouncedly  materialistic.  It  is 
in  this  ability  to  rehabilitate  an  old  thought,  swing  it  clear 
of  long  accepted  foundation,  and  drive  it  home  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  materialistic  age,  that  Mrs.  Eddy's  great- 
ness lies. 

[Journal-Courier,  New  Haven,  Conn.] 

The  editorial  comments  on  the  life  and  career  of  Mrs. 
Eddy  show  a  gratifying  sense  of  tolerance.  Here  and  there 
a  newspaper  expresses  its  violent  dissent  from  Christian 
Science  doctrines,  but  the  great  majority  frankly  express 
their  admiration  of  the  woman  from  both  a  personal  point 
of  view  and  spiritual.  Had  she  died  ten  years  ago  this 
would  not  have  been  the  case,  which  is  additional  tribute 
to  her  marvelous  power  of  organization. 

It  was  the  Springfield  Republican,  if  we  are  not  mis- 
taken, that  emphasized  the  immense  good  she  did  in  influ- 
encing the  medical  profession  by  establishing  the  influence 
of  mind  over  matter.  That  truth  was  not  original  with  her, 
but  it  was  she  who  preached  it  until  it  became  a  gospel  with 


36  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

over  two  million  souls.  The  New  York  Sun  emphasizes 
still  another  phase  of  her  usefulness,  and  it  is  this  after  all 
that  has  received  such  a  visible  manifestation.  Says  the 
Sun:  "We  are  thinking  of  the  astonishing  influence  she  ex- 
erted in  thousands  of  homes  for  the  amelioration  of  life 
and  manners  in  some  of  the  details  of  family  and  social 
intercourse.  She  taught  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  observa- 
tion encourages  the  belief  that  the  great  majority  of  her 
followers  either  become  more  cheerful,  both  subjectively 
and  as  consistent  examples  to  those  around  them,  or  with 
more  or  less  success  simulated  a  modification  of  tempera- 
ment in  that  respect,  which  nearly  amounts  in  practice  to 
the  same  thing.  She  taught  charity  in  judging  the  deeds  and 
motives  of  another,"  etc.,  etc. 

This  attitude  of  tolerance  does  more  than  gratify  the 
followers  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  which  we  take  it  it  does.  It  re- 
flects the  highest  credit  upon  the  American  people,  who  are 
brave  enough  and  fair  enough  to  acknowledge  an  achieve- 
ment without  small  jealousy.  The  more  this  spirit  is  encour- 
aged the  nearer  shall  we  get  to  the  real  brotherhood  of  man 
and  church  unity. 

[Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Express] 

Not  merely  one  of  the  world's  great  women — one  of  the 
world's  greatest  personages  passed  away  when  Mary  Baker 
Eddy  died  in  Boston  Saturday  night.  She  must  be  ad- 
judged great  if  measured  only  by  the  extent  of  the  influence 
she  exerted  over  the  minds  and  lives  of  men  and  women 
over  all  the  earth.  That  influence  was  world-wide  and 
strongly  potent  in  its  workings,  guiding  and  controlling  the 
views  of  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  thousands  of  excep- 
tionally intelligent  disciples.  Whether  her  long  career  be 
regarded  with  reverent  consideration  or  in  hostile  criticism, 
friend  and  foe  must  unite  in  the  judgment  that  places  among 
the  group  of  the  world's  great,  this  woman,  whose  body 
now  lies  dead  but  whose  spirit  still  strongly  Jives. 

The  change  that  men  call  death  came  softly  and  pain- 
lessly after  four  score  years  and  ten  of  life  devoted  to  the 
search  for  truth.    Her  search  ended  where  all  life  begins — 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  37 

in  God.  Death  found  her  work  complete,  her  mission  ended, 
her  service  fulfilled.  The  way  she  pioneered,  the  path  she 
found,  now  runs  broad  and  smooth  to  the  feet  of  all  who 
believingly  follow.  She  made  God  easy  of  approach  to 
hosts  of  men  and  women  who,  losing  faith,  else  had  not 
known  Him.  She  gave  vitality  to  belief,  direction  to  aim- 
less purpose,  ideality  to  life,  new  sanctity  to  truth,  su- 
premacy to  Mind,  healing  to  the  body,  and  did  her  part 
in  bruising  the  serpent's  head.  It  was  a  great  creative  work 
that  Mary  Baker  Eddy  achieved  in  an  age  when  faith  had 
begun  to  depart  and  belief  to  darken. 

It  is  too  early  to  measure  the  scope  of  her  achievement. 
Although  for  years  she  has  lived  in  retirement,  perspective 
still  is  lacking.  It  is  not  in  this  generation  or  the  next  that 
it  will  be  possible  in  the  judgment  of  men  to  assign  her  to 
her  rightful  place.  The  work  she  did  endures  and  will 
endure.  Her  teachings  survive.  Death  has  no  power  over 
truth.  The  church  she  founded,  losing  a  founder,  yet  has 
lost  but  a  member.  It  remains  unhurt,  the  embodiment  of 
principles,  not  a  creation  dependent  for  vitality  upon  an 
individual.  While  it  continues  faithful  to  Truth,  and  com- 
bative of  error,  a  medium  whereby  increasingly  is  estab- 
lished the  unity  between  life  and  God,  it  cannot  die. 

[Pasadena  (Cal.)  Daily  News] 

Whatever  the  partisan  conviction  of  the  average  Ameri- 
can churchman  as  to  the  permanent  quality  and  present 
ethical  and  spiritual  value  of  the  religious  faith  of  which 
Mrs.  Eddy,  the  author  of  the  text-book  on  Christian  Science, 
was  the  acknowledged  Leader,  thinking  people  will  at  least 
pause  to  accord  her  that  measure  of  justice  and  respect 
which  her  remarkable  life,  drawn  out  to  the  limit  of  almost 
ninety  years,  commands.  Even  in  her  old  age  she  has  been 
the  object  of  the  enmity  of  those  who  perhaps  slightly  un- 
derstood her  work  and  her  real  part  in  the  realignment  of 
the  religious  thought  of  the  world. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  remarkable  book,  it  must  be  admitted  by 
friends  and  critics  alike,  has  resulted  in  one  of  the  most 


38  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

wonderful  religious  developments  of  our  time.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  its  teachings  have  carried  relief  to  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  hopeless  sufferers,  many  of  them  having 
exhausted  every  other  possible  source  of  relief.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  its  interpretation  of  spiritual  truth, 
whatever  may  be  the  judgment  of  the  world  at  this  time  of 
its  logic,  the  fact  remains  that  to  suffering  humanity  it  has 
been  a  boon.  No  intelligent,  fair-minded  person,  in  the  face 
of  the  overwhelming  evidence  of  the  value  of  this  belief  in 
bringing  health,  mental  sunshine,  and  cheer,  in  expelling 
suffering,  fear,  worry,  and  hate,  can  question  that  it  is  one 
of  the  great,  potent,  and  virile  religions,  however  they  may 
differ  from  its  point  of  view.  It  professes  to  be  a  religion 
of  love  and  unshrinking  trust. 

The  more  religion  the  world  can  get,  under  whatever 
name,  that  will  strengthen  faith  and  relieve  suffering,  dispel 
discouragement,  fear,  and  hate,  the  better  for  humanity. 
It  is  perhaps  the  common  consensus  of  opinion  that  in  this 
direction  Mrs.  Eddy's  life  and  work  has  contributed  its 
full  part.  Abuse  and  persecution  has  not  retarded  the 
growth  of  Christian  Science.  Its  hold  on  men  and  women 
of  discrimination,  intelligence,  and  character,  has  been  the 
most  conspicuous  development  of  modern  religious  thought. 

[Cleveland  (0.)  Leader] 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  age,  or  of 
any  age,  has  ended  her  career  in  the  death  of  the  Founder 
of  Christian  Science.  The  most  bitter  hostility  to  Mrs.  Eddy 
and  the  most  complete  rejection  of  her  doctrines  and  her 
church  organization  cannot,  if  honest  and  intelligent,  deny 
that  she  has  been  a  far-reaching  and  vital  force  in  the 
thought .  and  life  of  her  times.  The  religion  which  she 
founded  and  completely  dominated  has  more  or  less  colored 
and  permeated  very  important  phases  of  existence  for  a 
multitude  of  men  and  women  who  do  not  call  themselves 
Christian  Scientists  and  are  not,  in  fact,  connected  with  the 
Christian  Science  organization. 

Her  doctrines  and  her  great  influence  upon  tens  of  thou- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  39 

sands  of  intelligent  people,  in  this  country  and  other  lands, 
was  a  wholesome  antidote  to  the  extreme  materialism  which 
is  one  of  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  age.  In 
so  far  as  her  teachings  were  credited  and  her  conclusions 
were  accepted,  the  ideal  was  exalted  and  the  sensual  and 
sensuous  weakened.  The  spirit  became  more  and  material 
things  less  important.  Nor  can  it  be  denied,  by  those  who 
are  well  informed,  that  the  result  of  the  remarkable  growth 
of  Christian  Science  has  been  to  give  peace  of  mind  and 
more  wholesome  conditions  of  life  in  every  sense  to  many 
of  Mrs.  Eddy's  followers. 

[San  Francisco  Examiner] 

It  will  be  difficult  to  the  layman  in  either  the  religious  or 
medical  worlds  to  properly  estimate  at  its  true  value  the  life 
and  career  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  This  much,  however,  the 
unprejudiced  must  admit:  She  was  a  woman  with  a  men- 
tality strong  enough  to  hold  her  own  against  as  bitter  a 
tide  of  hostile  criticism  as  ever  threatened  to  overwhelm 
any  leader  of  a  new  thought.  In  spite  of  this  hostility 
Mrs.  Eddy  established,  here  in  the  United  States,  a  cult 
which  is  to-day  an  important  factor  in  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  the  nation.  The  Christian  Science  church  is 
a  recognized  moral,  religious,  and  medical  force.  Its  edi- 
fices are  reared  in  nearly  a  thousand  cities  and  towns.  Its 
membership  is  large.  Its  growth  has  been  rapid.  Its  influ- 
ence reaches  into  every  quarter  of  the  civilized  globe. 

A  woman  who  could  in  the  short  span  of  a  generation — 
she  did  not  found  the  church  of  which  she  was  the  Leader 
until  1879 — build  so  great  an  edifice  upon  so  firm  a  founda- 
tion was  more  than  an  ordinary  woman.  She  was  a  great 
woman.  How  great  the  future  alone  can  determine,  for  the 
true  greatness  of  a  leader  of  a  new  thought  can  only  be 
measured  through  the  perspective  of  years. 

[Philadelphia  Press] 

There  have  been  various  founders  of  faiths,  in  all  ages, 
who  showed  that  the  appeal  they  made  to  an  absolute  un- 
questioned, undoubting  trust  and  belief  in  the  spiritual  and 


40  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

in.  its  immediate  revelation  to  and  knowledge  by  every  hu- 
man being  who  accepts  and  seeks  it,  meets  a  need  in  human 
nature.  Whether  this  belief  be  logical  and  capable  of  proof 
or  not,  it  exists;  it  has  been  preached  by  some  conspicuous 
leader  in  almost  every  Christian  century,  and  it  has  always 
had  some  acceptance  and  has  often  founded  a  new  sect,  com- 
munion, or  church. 

In  no  other  instance  in  this  country  has  this  acceptance 
been  so  widely  diffused,  shared  by  so  many  or  accompanied 
by  such  readiness  to  flock  to  a  new  church  and  to  follow  a 
new  leader,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist. 
No  one  in  our  day  and  few  in  any  day  have  ever  succeeded 
in  this  particular  task  as  has  Mrs.  Eddy.  She  leaves  great 
churches,  great  congregations,  and  tens  of  thousands  who 
feel  that  their  lives,  their  souls,  and  their  bodies  have  been 
transformed  by  her  teaching.  Her  influence  has  been  great 
outside  of  her  own  following,  and  she  has  sensibly  influ- 
enced the  preaching  and  the  teaching  of  many  churches  and 
the  lives  and  thought  of  many  who  did  not  for  an  instant 
accept  either  her  utterances  or  her  claims. 

[Sandusky  (O.)  Register] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  from  the 
living  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  centuries. 
However  people  may  differ  about  the  doctrines  she  taught, 
however  diverse  human  opinion  may  be  as  to  her  claims 
and  her  writings,  whatever  may  be  the  final  judgment  of  an 
intelligent  Christian  world  concerning  Christian  Science,  all 
must  admit  that  she  was  a  transcendent  character.  No  other 
woman  in  modern  times  has  ever  reached  anything  like 
Mrs.  Eddy's  heights  in  leadership,  in  organization,  and  in 
enduring  fame. 

The  church  Mrs.  Eddy  founded  but  a  few  years  ago 
already  has  a  membership  in  this  country  of  probably  one 
hundred  thousand,  made  up  not  of  ignorant,  credulous 
people,  not  of  those  who  are  easily  duped,  who  are  moved 
by  prejudice  and  passion,  but  more  largely  than  the  average 
denominational    church,    of    thoughtful    people,    educated 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  41 

people,  intelligent  and  cultured  people,  drawn  largely  from 
the  leading  Protestant  Christian  churches  throughout  the 
world,  a  unique  religious  body  unlike  any  other  in  history 
and  yet  holding  to  certain  fundamental  truths  which  people 
of  all  religious  beliefs  admit,  a  religious  body  having  some 
of  the  finest  edifices  erected  in  modern  times.  Mrs.  Eddy 
did  not  live  in  vain.  The  world  has  been  made  and  will 
still  be  made  the  better  for  her  having  lived,  and  she  has 
left  an  impress  world-wide  that  will  go  down  the  centuries 
yet  unborn. 

[Providence  (R.  I.)  News] 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  the  subject  of  much  comment,  but 
that  she  was  a  great  leader  of  men  and  women  is  proven 
by  the  many  thousands  of  adherents  that  she  secured  in 
the  most  cultured  sections  of  this  country.  The  handsome 
church  structures  that  the  Christian  Scientists  have  erected 
in  Boston  and  this  city  indicate  at  least  that  they  have  a 
firm  confidence  in  the  continuance  of  their  organization. 
Nothing  is  easier  than  to  find  fault  with  those  who  advo- 
cate changes  of  such  a  radical  nature  as  did  Mrs.  Eddy,  and 
yet  the  fact  remains  that,  no  matter  what  doubters  may 
assert,  many  have  found  bodily  health  and  more  mental 
calm  by  reason  of  the  attention  given  to  the  courses  she 
advocated. 

Mrs.  Eddy  had  stanch  friends  and  many  earnest  workers 
in  her  cause.  She  undoubtedly  did  much  good,  and  whether 
one  agrees  with  either  the  religious  views  she  advanced  or 
her  belief  in  the  all-powerful  control  of  matter  by  mind, 
she  alleviated  much  real  distress  and  gave  to  men  and 
women,  many  of  them  of  undoubted  sincerity,  a  new  faith 
at  least  in  themselves.  Her  long  life,  therefore,  was  a  most 
useful  one,  and  she  will  long  be  remembered  as  one  of  the 
remarkable  personages  of  the  last  years  of  the  connecting 
extremes  of  two  progressive  centuries. 

[Union,  Sacramento,  Cal.] 

In  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  the  world  loses  a  woman  who 
has  been  a  very  important  influence  in  the  uplifting  of 
humanity.    She  has,  during  her  lifetime,  converted  millions 


42  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

to  her  doctrines,  and  all  over  the  country  the  effects  of  her 
teachings  are  visible. 

In  Mrs.  Eddy  the  United  States  has  lost  one  of  its  most 
valuable  citizens  and  the  world  one  of  its  most  philanthropic 
and  broad-minded  women.  The  recent  death  of  Tolstoi 
suggests  a  comparison  between  the  two,  for  both  were  en- 
gaged in  trying  to  elevate  humanity,  but  while  the  Russian 
was  always  pessimistic  and  saw  only  the  somber  side  of 
things,  this  good  woman  saw  only  the  bright  side  and  sought 
to  accomplish  her  mission  not  with  tears,  but  with  smiles; 
not  by  sad  prophecies  for  the  future,  but  by  giving  to  the 
world  brighter  and  better  hopes  and  truer  ideas  of  happi- 
ness, both  on  this  side  of  the  grave  and  on  the  other. 

Uoplin  (Mo.)  Daily  Globe] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  death  is  the  world  event  of  a  day  because 
her  life  is  a  world  event  of  the  age.  The  verdict  as  to  her 
place  in  literature,  or  philosophy,  or  theology,  or  medicine 
is  unimportant.  The  verdict  as  to  her  place  in  the  life- 
story  of  the  world  is  stupendous;  it  "passeth  all  under- 
standing." Now  that  she  has  gone  the  world  will  speculate 
upon  the  effect  of  her  departure  and  will  reconsider  and 
gently  qualify  many  of  the  harsh,  unfair  sentences  it  passed 
upon  her.  The  profound  scholarship,  for  illustration,  that 
had  penetrated  the  depths  of  the  labyrinth  of  human  knowl- 
edge may  be  accorded  belated  recognition.  Men  of  letters 
may  apprehend  it  to  be  their  duty  to  read  the  book  which 
in  the  artistry  of  its  proportion,  the  felicity  of  its  expres- 
sion, the  puissance  of  its  logic,  its  rare  grammatical  purity, 
the  splendor  of  its  visions,  and  the  sweetness  of  its  message 
is,  in  simple  truth,  a  book  of  books. 

And  as  men  of  letters  may  do  honor  to  her  scholarship, 
so  philosophy  may  lay  aside  its  pride  and  its  intolerance  and 
pay  homage  to  a  service  that  retrieved  contentment  from 
the  world's  lost  arts.  So,  too,  may  theology,  grim  and  re- 
sentful, address  in  a  spirit  of  fellowship,  one  other  of  "the 
wondrous  names  of  God."  And  who  shall  say  but  medi- 
cine, grappling  resolutely  but  hopelessly  with  its  adversary, 
may  ultimately  accept  this  school  of  healing  as  an  ally? 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  43 

As  a  Leader,  a  teacher,  and  evangel  that  sought  strange, 
independent  channels  for  her  energies,  Mrs.  Eddy  is  held 
in  reverence  and  affectionate  esteem  by  the  army  of  a  million 
recruited  from  all  the  ranks  of  life.  And  in  the  assurance 
she  has  brought  to  doubt,  the  hope  with  which  she  has 
routed  despair,  the  strength  that  has  been  given  to  weak- 
ness, the  courage  that  has  supplanted  cowardice,  the  health 
that  has  banished  wretchedness,  the  glory  of  the  everlasting 
day  into  which  she  has  marshaled  the  wanderers  in  night's 
terror — thus,  in  the  grandeur  and  the  permanence  and  the 
mercy  of  her  works,  she  stands  justified.  And  by  these 
tokens  and  imperishable  signs  the  voice  of  a  million  reiter- 
ates, "There  is  no  death." 

[Salt  Lake  Tribune] 

At  a  great  age,  Mrs.  Eddy,  the  Founder  and  Leader  of 
the  Christian  Science  church,  has  passed  away.  She  was 
a  woman  of  very  high  ability  along  the  lines  which  she 
chose  or  was  led  in  her  life-work.  To  formulate  a  system 
of  belief,  organize  a  church  which  spread  with  such  strength 
and  rapidity  as  the  Christian  Science  church  has  done,  and 
to  retain  the  love,  veneration,  and  devotion  of  such  multi- 
tudes of  her  fellow-beings  as  Mrs.  Eddy  has  done,  shows 
the  possession  by  her  of  qualities  as  remarkable  as  they 
were  vital.  It  is  idle  to  decry  her  or  her  work,  in  view  of 
her  resplendent  success;  to  speak  of  a  monument  for  her 
is  but  to  ask  for  gilding  to  the  fine  gold  of  achievement  for 
her  work,  and  the  church  she  founded  will  be  her  ever- 
present  and  most  splendid  memorial  for  all  time.  That 
work  is  a  marvel,  amazing  to  whoever  will  consider  it  can- 
didly for  what  it  is,  and  in  its  inception  and  growth.  It  is 
now  one  of  the  mighty  factors  in  American  life,  and  is  still 
pushing  on. 

[World-Herald,  Omaha,  Neb.] 

In  some  respects,  at  least,  Mrs.  Eddy  seems,  from  the 
perspective  of  to-day,  one  of  the  world's  great  women.  It 
is  possible  that  she  will  some  day  be  generally  accepted  as 
the  world's  greatest  woman.  She  was  the  "Discoverer"  of 
a  religion  and  the  Founder  of  a  church.    It  is  a  religion  that 


44  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

seems  to  make  a  universal  appeal,  in  that  it  is  accepted  by 
men  and  women  of  all  races,  creeds,  and  conditions,  and  so 
it  is  a  church  that  gives  promise  of  enduring  permanence. 
Philosophically  it  rests  on  the  doctrine  of  pure  idealism, 
morally  on  the  gospel  of  love.  A  religion  resting  on  such 
foundations,  and  satisfying,  as  it  has  from  its  inception, 
some  of  the  purest  souls  and  clearest  minds  of  the  present 
civilization,  should  travel  far  through  the  generations. 

There  can  be  general  agreement  as  to  the  rare  quali- 
ties of  heart  and  mind  and  personality  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  the 
Founder  of  Christian  Science.  Like  Tolstoi,  she  is  one  of 
the  unique  figures  of  universal  history. 

[Evening  Index,  San  Bernardino,  Cal.] 

In  the  passing  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  there,  was  removed 
from  earthly  existence  the  most  beloved  woman  in  history. 
The  good  citizenship  will  applaud  the  efforts  of  any  one  who 
helps  humanity  to  a  more  correct  life,  no  matter  through 
what  channel  of  religion.  Therefore  it  would  seem  but  the 
insincere  who  would  fail  to  say  aught  but  good  of  this 
noble  woman.  She  faced  the  world,  with  its  harsh  criticism 
and  ridicule,  alone,  with  only  her  God  as  a  protection.  For 
years  she  stood  with  her  faith  unshaken  by  that  which 
would  have  quailed  the  stoutest  heart.  First  dozens,  then 
hundreds,  then  thousands,  then  tens  of  thousands  were  ap- 
pealed to  by  her  religion  and  found  relief  from  many  wor- 
ries of  life,  until  to-day  Christian  Science  reaches  around 
the  world  and  to  its  farthest  corners. 

In  the  beginning  Mrs.  Eddy  said  steadfastly,  "God  is  my 
life;"  her  last  earthly  message  was  "God  is  my  life." 

[Columbus  (O.)  News] 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Mrs.  Eddy  herself  and  her 
doctrinal  school  are  among  the  powerful  uplifting  forces 
of  this  age.  Even  if  its  possible  accomplishments  have 
been  exaggerated,  as  its  antagonists  contend,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  Christian  Science  has  made  mankind  happier, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  45 

healthier,  and  better.  Judged  by  results,  the  life  and  teach- 
ings of  this  remarkable  woman  were  rich  in  helpfulness  to 
mankind. 

[Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Record] 

In  the  passing  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  and 
Leader  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  this  world  has 
lost  one  of  the  most  wonderful  women  it  has  ever  known. 
Over  two  score  years  ago  she  discovered  what  she  believed 
was  the  real  religion  taught  in  the  Bible.  Her  ideas  were 
ridiculed  and  attacked  on  every  side.  But  she  was  not  dis- 
heartened. She  met  all  attacks,  all  opposition,  calmly, 
bravely,  as  one  who  had  the  true  courage  of  her  convic- 
tions, and  persevered.  Little  by  little  others  came  to  be- 
lieve as  she  did,  and  to-day  the  Christian  Science  move- 
ment has  spread  all  over  the  world  and  has  millions  of  faith- 
ful adherents,  who  daily  thank  God  for  His  goodness,  and 
give  expression  of  their  gratitude  to  Mrs.  Eddy  for  her  work 
in  opening  the  door  of  this  religion  to  them. 

Although  there  are  millions  who  believe  in  Christian 
Science,  there  are  more  millions  who  do  not,  but  even  the 
most  bitter  enemies  must  admit  that  Christian  Science  has 
done  much  to  relieve  suffering,  and  has  brought  health, 
happiness,  and  peace  to  hundreds  of  thousands  who  were 
ill,  physically,  morally,  spiritually.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  bril- 
liant woman,  a  brave  woman,  and  the  world  has  been  made 
better  by  her  presence.  Could  she  speak  to-day,  in  the 
flesh,  it  seems  as  if  she  might  fittingly  say,  as  did  Paul:  "I 
have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith:  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all 
them  also  that  love  his  appearing." 

[Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Journal] 

We  of  the  present  moment,  lacking  the  gifts  of  prophecy 
or  even  of  perspective,  must  estimate  the  life,  character,  and 
achievements  of  this  Founder  of  a  new  religious  and  philo- 
sophic school  on  a  basis  of  personal  observation.     To  be 


46  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

just  we  must  take  rightful  account  of  the  wonderful  influ- 
ence of  the  Christian  Science  faith  in  our  modern  life. 
From  ocean  to  ocean  in  this  country  stand  the  fashioned 
monuments  to  this  movement,  and  engraven  on  each  temple 
of  Christian  Science  worship  is  the  name  of  Mary  Baker 
Eddy.  Thousands  of  intelligent  and  serious-minded  men 
and  women  have  accepted  her  as  their  spiritual  Leader. 
Her  theories  have  brought  solace  to  many  a  discouraged 
soul,  and  peace  reigns  in  thousands  of  families  where  before 
was  doubt,  unhappiness,  and  dread.    This  much  we  know. 

Thoughtful  men  and  women,  unblinded  by  prejudice, 
must  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  and  admiration  for  this  earnest 
and  forceful  character  who  made  such  an  imprint  upon 
modern  thought. 

[Rutherford  (N.  J.)  Republican] 

In  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  the  world  has  lost  a 
wonderful  woman,  one  whose  life's  work  will  go  down  in 
church  history  as  the  equal  of  the  Wesleys,  Calvin,  Luther, 
and  others  of  like  prominence  in  the  promulgation  and 
foundation  of  theological  teachings  and  ethics.  As  in  the 
case  with  these  others,  thousands  of  men  and  women  the 
world  over  bless  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Eddy  for  the  countless 
benefits  brought  into  their  lives  by  her  teachings.  It  makes 
little  difference  by  what  name  it  is  called,  any  creed  or 
ethical  doctrine  which  makes  the  ordinary  human  being 
more  content  and  happy  in  this  life,  more  worthy  to  live 
it,  and  inspired  with  a  confidence  and  hope  of  that  which  is 
beyond,  is  a  precious  blessing  to  mankind,  and  one  whose 
benefits  cannot  be  calculated  by  human  measure.  Such  a 
blessing  the  deceased  head  of  the  Christian  Science  church 
has  conferred  upon  innumerable  human  beings,  and  with  a 
confidence  and  gratefulness  born  of  personal  experience  and 
benefits,  these  will  hold  her  and  her  teachings  in  reverential 
memory  forever  and  anon. 

[The  Iron  Era,  Dover,  N.  J.] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  life-work  has  been  crowned  with  wonderful 
success,  criticized,  perhaps,  by  those  understanding  it  little 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  47 

or  worse  than  not  at  all,  but  nevertheless  rapidly  gaining 
numerically  and  in  influence  as  a  faith.  On  all  sides  may  be 
seen  living  and  enthusiastic  examples  of  the  cures  worked 
by  this  belief,  and  whether  or  not  prejudice  or  belief  or  pro- 
fession shall  cause  some  to  sneer  at  and  decry  the  real  cause 
of  these  healings,  all  mankind  must  admit  that  if  the  prac- 
tice of  the  teachings  of  one  woman  shall  have  done  so  much 
for  humanity,  it  was  good  for  that  woman  to  have  lived 
among  us. 

[New  Era,  South  Bend,  Ind.] 

Judged  by  her  achievements,  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was 
one  of  the  extraordinary  figures  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Putting  aside  all  claims  for  the  wonderful  healing  ascribed 
to  the  following  of  her  teaching,  one  great  practical  good  is 
apparent  from  her  efforts,  and  that  is  the  stimulation  they 
have  given  to  the  reading  and  careful  studying  of  the  Scrip- 
tures by  thousands  of  her  followers,  who  by  their  optimistic 
views  of  life  make  their  earthly  journey  one  of  hope  and 
confidence  born  of  a  great  love  toward  their  Maker.  To 
them  the  golden  rule  is  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  conduct  in 
their  relations  with  their  fellow-beings,  and  possessing,  as 
they  do,  an  abiding  faith  in  their  destiny,  they  face  the  world 
with  a  serenity  of  mind  that  adds  greatly  to  the  joys  of  life. 

At  this  time  it  is  proper  to  recognize  the  dimensions  of 
her  practical  achievements  and  the  claims  which  her  re- 
markable personality  and  her  creed  have  upon  the  world's 
attention  and  regard. 

[Los  Angeles  (Cal.)  Herald] 

The  history  of  womankind  has  no  parallel  to  the  career 
of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  and  its  effects  on  the  lives  of  others, 
and  the  woman  who  passed  away  at  her  home  in  Brookline, 
Massachusetts,  on  Saturday  night  can  be  said  to  have  di- 
rectly influenced  more  persons  than  any  other  of  her  sex 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  Considered  either  as  a 
spiritual  leader  or  as  to  her  personality  in  its  more  human 
aspects,  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  most  wonderful  woman. 


48  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

Considered  apart  from  her  religious  position  this  can  be 
said  of  Mrs.  Eddy:  The  world  owes  her  gratitude  for 
showing  how  closely  sobriety  and  temperance  in  act  and 
thought  (and  the  converse)  may  affect  body  and  spirit 
alike.  If  the  result  of  her  efforts  had  only  caused  the 
multiplied  thousands  of  her  adherents  to  live  more  orderly 
lives  and  be  examples  to  a  headlong  age,  she  would  not 
have  lived  in  vain. 

[Brunswick  (Me.)  Record] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  at  the  age  of  ninety  years  brings 
to  public  attention  the  wonderful  work  she  has  accomplished. 
No  one  can  doubt  that  she  was  a  woman  of  rare  power 
and  intellect.  Thousands  have  become  her  followers,  learned 
the  lessons  which  she  has  taught,  and  produced  the  results 
she  has  desired  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  Christian  Science 
church.  Aside  from  her  teachings  and  the  Christian  Science 
doctrines,  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  in  so  far  as  she  has 
brought  peace,  happiness,  and  health  to  mankind  she  should 
be  respected  and  honored. 

[Boston  Journal] 

There  is  no  little  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  Founder 
of  Christian  Science  will  be  taken  to  Mount  Auburn,  her 
last  resting-place,  to-day  with  simple  ceremony.  It  is  even 
more  significant  that  in  the  messages  received  by  the  church 
authorities  from  all  parts  of  the  world  there  is  no  note 
of  sadness  or  of  disturbance  regarding  the  future.  If  for 
nothing  else,  then  for  the  simplicity  and  the  serenity  which 
she  inculcated  by  precept  and  practice,  Mrs.  Eddy  has  de- 
served the  tributes  that  since  Sunday  have  been  appearing 
here  and  abroad.  In  an  age  which  has  been  making  special 
reports  on  neurasthenia,  it  is  remarkable,  if  not  positively 
providential,  that  through  the  agency  of  a  woman,  the 
world  should  have  received  partial  relief  by  the  exercise  of 
a  faith  that  was  not  permitted  to  backslide.  There  is  great 
good  in  most  beliefs.  In  this  particular  case  that  good  was 
realized  by  steadfast  practice  of  a  gospel.  It  is  a  lesson 
which  even  those  who  run  may  read. 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  49 

[Kansas  City  Star] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  one  of  the  remarkable  per- 
sonages of  the  long  period  of  time  her  life  inclosed.  She 
was  the  moving  spirit  in  and  the  chief  exemplar  of  a  re- 
ligious and  spiritual  phenomenon  affecting  in  some  degree 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  civilized  world.  The  Founder  of 
the  Christian  Science  church  developed  a  way  of  life  and  a 
spiritual  creed  by  which  many  thousands  of  persons  have 
found  serenity  of  mind  and  a  correlative  physical  well-being. 
In  her  own  mind  and  body  she  exemplified  the  value  of  her 
teachings.  Her  long  life  closed  amid  the  spiritual  venera- 
tion and  love  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  associated  reli- 
gionists and  the  kindly  esteem  of  almost  the  whole  world. 


[Post-Dispatch,  St.  Louis,  Mo.] 

There  is  convincing  evidence  of  the  potent  and  lasting 
influence  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  work.  It  is  difficult  at  this  time  to 
measure  its  effect.  It  has  profoundly  influenced  religious 
thought  and  has  modified  medical  science  and  practice. 
Mrs.  Eddy's  views  on  Mind  as  the  only  power  and  reality, 
and  her  method  of  applying  the  Christian  ideal  as  a  prac- 
tical working  force  to  the  problems  of  daily  life,  have  been 
accepted  as  revelations  of  truth  by  hosts  of  people.  Her 
extraordinary  power  and  influence  are  recognized  by  her 
bitterest  opponents.  She  has  a  unique  place  among  religious 
leaders  and  thinkers. 

[Springfield  (Mo.)  Republican] 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  done  very  much  for  the  world,  too.  That 
must  be  admitted  regardless  of  what  one's  position  may  be 
regarding  her  teachings.  She  lived  a  beautiful  life,  she 
taught  others  to  live  as  cleanly.  She  taught  hope  and  trust 
and  happiness  and  goodness.  She  caused  a  great  deal  of 
all  those  principles  to  become  the  guiding  influence  in  the 
daily  living  of  people  who  believed  in  her, — an  influence 
which  has  come  to  touch  a  very  great  portion  of  the  earth. 


50  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

[Houston  (Tex.)  Chronicle] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  is  regretted  throughout  the 
United  States.  The  Founder  of  Christian  Science  was  a 
remarkable  woman.  Whatever  those  opposed  to  her  teach- 
ings may  think  of  Christian  Science  and  the  great  Christian 
Science  Leader,  there  is  no  doubt  that  she  brought  religious 
faith  to  many  previously  without  it  and  her  general  influ- 
ence on  the  world  was  good. 

[Daily  Argus-Leader,  Sioux  Falls,  S.  D.] 

The  great  influence  which  Mrs.  Eddy  exerted  on  the 
religious  thought  of  her  day  will  not  be  lost  with  her  passing 
away.  Her  work  will  go  on,  and  undoubtedly  history  will 
accord  her  a  place  with  the  great  religious  leaders  of  the 
Christian  era. 

[Twentieth  Century  Magazine'] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of  Christian 
Science,  passed  into  the  broader  life  on  December  3,  in  her 
ninetieth  year.  The  story  of  her  life  forms  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  records  among  the  histories  of  the  religious  lead- 
ers of  the  ages,  and  she  was  unquestionably  the  greatest  re- 
ligious leader  that  has  arisen  in  the  new  world.  To  those 
who  knew  her  personally  and  intimately  she  was  the  incarna- 
tion of  love  and  kindliness  of  spirit,  though  resolute  and 
brave  in  uncovering  and  opposing  error.  Seldom  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  has  a  great  spiritual  leader  lived  to  see 
so  rich  fruition  follow  the  giving  of  the  message. 

From  infancy,  her  health  was  frail.  Many  of  her  early 
years  were  years  of  constant  suffering  and  pronounced  in- 
validism, and  after  seeming  restoration  to  health  came  an 
accident  that  brought  her  to  the  gates  of  death.  This  was 
more  than  fifty  years  ago.  When  hope  from  human  sources 
had  been  abandoned,  she  experienced  an  interior  illumina- 
tion or  a  realization  of  the  power  of  God  to  heal.  Since 
then,  for  over  half  a  century,  she  wrought  indefatigably, 
giving  to  the  world  the  message  she  believed  to  have  come 
from  the  All-Father  as  a  new  illumination,  revealing  anew 
the  Christ-truth  that  made  the  early  and  uncorrupted  church 
invincible. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  51 

For  more  than  half  a  century,  the  most  powerful  opposi- 
tion and  antagonisms  beat  around  her.  For  years  and 
decades  she  was  the  target  for  ridicule,  abuse,  slander,  and 
calumny.  Conventional  religion  and  organized  medicine 
vied  with  each  other  in  attacking  her  theory,  ridiculing  her 
position  and  impugning  her  motives.  Foes  arose  within 
her  own  household,  and  to  the  fierce  opposition  that  has 
almost  always  beaten  with  tempestlike  force  around  the 
head  of  a  great  religious  or  spiritual  leader,  was  added  the 
opposition  of  organized  medicine,  only  second  to  dogmatic 
theology  in  its  intolerance  for  new  theories  or  philosophical 
concepts  that  antagonize  old  ideas.  The  persistent,  tireless, 
and  many-sided  opposition  would  have  crushed  any  one  not 
sustained  by  an  invincible  living  faith.  In  an  hour  when 
the  creeping  paralysis  of  materialism  was  taking  hold  of 
conventional  Christianity,  making  it  increasingly  blind  to 
the  spirit  and  correspondingly  concerned  with  the  exterior 
manifestation,  Mrs.  Eddy  gave  forth  her  message,  which 
has  transformed  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives. 

One  does  not  have  to  be  a  Christian  Scientist  to  recognize 
the  wonderful  work  it  has  already  wrought.  If  it  had  done 
nothing  more  than  heal  tens  of  thousands  of  hopeless  in- 
valids, thousands  of  whom  were  resting  under  the  death 
sentence  from  conventional  medical  scholasticism,  it  would 
have  done  much.  If  it  had  done  nothing  more  than  trans- 
form and  ennoble  with  a  vital  faith  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  lives  to  which  God  and  religion  had  come  to  mean  noth- 
ing, it  would  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  positive  upward- 
impelling  forces  of  the  age.  That  this  message  should  ap- 
peal in  a  compelling  way  to  a  million  or  more  intelligent 
men  and  women  in  the  most  searching  and  critical  age  and 
among  the  most  mentally  acute  peoples  of  earth,  is  one  of 
the  most  significant  historic  facts  of  the  present. 

[Argus-Leader ,  Sioux  Falls,  S.  D.] 

There  are  few  women  of  this  age  whose  names  are  more 
familiar  in  the  average  home  than  that  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker 
Eddy.  There  are  few  who  have  been  the  object  of  such 
extremes  in  the  expressed  opinion  of  the  public  as  has  this 


52  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

able  woman,  who  in  middle  life,  after  a  long  period  of  se- 
clusion, emerged  with  a  wonderful  system  of  religion,  that 
within  a  few  years  has  extended  its  influence  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth. 

Her  faith  has  weathered  the  taunts  and  the  gibes  and 
the  persecution  of  the  majority,  and  has  brought  peace  and 
comfort  and  usefulness  to  an  ever-increasing  minority  of 
her  fellow-beings.  We  who  know  the  least  of  the  woman 
and  her  work  have  perhaps  been  their  severest  critics.  It 
has  been  easy  to  follow  up  the  recital  of  cures  effected  by 
Christian  Science  with  the  remark  that  it  was  a  wonderful 
thing,  and  it  was  accomplishing  a  great  work  among  people 
who  were  ailing  only  in  imagination.  We  have  delighted 
in  recounting  cases  where  Christian  Science  patients  have 
died  for  want  of  medical  assistance.  Perhaps  they  have; 
but  in  order  to  have  been  just,  we  should  have  struck  a 
balance  with  the  fatalities  due  to  too  much  surgical  and 
medical  experiment. 

Leaving  the  subject  of  physical  healing  to  the  discussion 
of  the  learned  and  wise,  let  us  simply  look  into  the  faces  of 
the  pupils  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  There  we  read  the  message 
of  "On  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men,"  and  bask 
in  a  momentary  reflection  of  the  radiant  joy  that  seems  to 
illumine  the  lives  of  her  followers.  .  The  strained,  hur- 
ried, worried,  hunted  look  characteristic  of  our  modern 
existence  has  been  smoothed  away  as  completely  as  the 
hand  of  death  erases  all  trace  of  physical  suffering  on  the 
faces  of  our  dear  ones,  filling  us  with  awe*  at  its  mystery 
and  its  sublimity.  As  light  hearts  and  happy  faces  are  as 
infectious  as  their  too  numerous  antipodes,  the  influence  of 
Mrs.  Eddy's  teachings  reaches  far  out  beyond  the  pale  of 
her  following  and,  regardless  of  religious  or  scientific  belief, 
sends  shafts  of  warm  light  into  thousands  of  shadowed 
lives. 

Surely  she  has  not  lived  and  wrought  in  vain!  We  may 
neither  understand  nor  accept  for  ourselves  her  teachings, 
but  in  recognition  of  her  efforts  and  of  her  success,  as  we 
must  see  it,  in  humanity's  cause,  we  tenderly  lay  a  wreath 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  53 

of  laurels  on  her  bier  and  carve  her  name  on  the  tablets  of 
memory  among  those  of  many  other  brave  women  of  this 
century,  who  have  blazed  the  way  through  dark  forests  of 
public  disapproval  and  tangled  thickets  of  persecution  into 
the  clear  light  of  Truth  as  seen  by  them. 

[Short  Hills  (N.  J.)  Item] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  greatness  came  from  rediscovering  and  re- 
storing the  method  of  Christ's  healing.  Her  book,  "Science 
and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  contains  the  rule 
by  which  to  find  one's  relation  to  God  and  the  resultant 
freedom  from  every  evil  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  It  is  a  book 
that  must  be  studied  to  be  understood,  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  to-day  claim  that  it  has  introduced  them  to  better 
morals,  firm  health,  and  a  satisfying  religion  of  the  "I 
know"  quality.  To  understand  is  to  know.  Understanding 
changes  blind  faith  to  realization — to  knowing.  Wisdom, 
godliness,  and  health  may  be  attained  by  the  practice  of  the 
teachings  of  Science  and  Health  in  connection  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  all,  if  they  will,  may  demonstrate  it.  This 
happy  consummation  can  be  brought  about  not  by  retain- 
ing in  consciousness  old-time  cherished  but  erroneous  the- 
ories and  beliefs,  but  by  dismissing  them,  and  putting  in 
their  place  Mrs.  Eddy's  demonstrable  truth  as  taught  in 
the  Bible  and  in  her  writings.  This  is  not  mere  assertion, 
it  is  fact — fact  that  may  be  stubborn,  and  yet  gloriously  so. 
Multitudes  are  proclaiming  most  solemnly  and  happily  these 
facts.  These  multitudes  are  composed  of  intelligent,  pro- 
gressive persons  in  search  of  ultimate  truth, — who  do  not 
want  unsubstantiated  theories,  but  who  do  want  religious 
facts  scientifically  demonstrated  in  the  Christ-way  right  in 
their  own  consciousness  and  experience.  The  remedy  for  all 
sin  and  error  and  all  discord  and  all  disease,  as  taught  by 
Mrs.  Eddy,  is  Truth,  and  Jesus  said,  "Ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

We  thank  Mrs.  Eddy  because  she  demands  as  did  her 
Master  the  perfect  life,  and  because  she  shows  us  how  it 
can  be  accomplished.     We  thank  her  for  reinstating  the 


54  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

Christ-religion  and  proving  it  such  by  practical  demon- 
stration. We  thank  her  for  a  religion  that  knows  one  God 
only.  We  thank  her  for  founding  and  establishing  a  church 
scientifically  Christian.  We  thank  her  for  her  "Key"  that 
opens  the  spiritual  Bible.  We  thank  her  for  steadfastly 
continuing  her  studies  in  humanity's  behalf  under  inhuman 
persecution;  for  her  genuinely  Christian  life,  without  which 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  her  to  become  great  in 
humanity's  service. 

The  pages  of  the  world's  history  fail  to  reveal  a  greater 
woman  either  in  one  or  in  many  accomplishments.  Mrs. 
Eddy  was  without  a  superior  among  her  sex  for  spiritual 
insight,  organization,  and  leadership,  and  in  capacity  for 
indefatigable  labor.  Her  writings,  including  hymns  and 
poems,  are  permanent  literature,  ever  refreshing,  ever  sought, 
growing  more  and  more  appreciated.  Rejoicingly  affirm- 
ing "God  is  my  life,"  she*  entered  upon  her  higher  con- 
sciousness, beautifully,  triumphantly. 

[Beacon,  Cannon  Falls,  Minn.] 

Those  things  that  we  call  character  in  the  individual  are 
expressed  in  the  sum  total  of  the  life-work;  and  the  ability 
to  work  in  this  sense  is  also  measured  by  the  ability  of  the 
individual  to  lose  himself  in  his  work.  Work  to  be  of  last- 
ing value  must  be  a  share  of  the  general  work  to  be  done; 
the  lasting  good  one  does,  a  part  of  the  general  good.  His- 
tory shows  this  to  be  the  one  true  measure  of  greatness,  and 
since  Mrs.  Eddy's  work,  both  as  a  system  of  healing  and 
as  a  religious  philosophy,  long  since  passed  the  experimental 
point  and  has  become  an  institution,  so  Mrs.  Eddy's  place 
in  the  history  of  her  country  and  of  all  countries,  of  the  re- 
ligion of  her  time  and  of  all  times,  is  defined  and  certain. 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  great  soul  rather  than  a  great  intellect; 
though  as  a  philosophical  thinker  and  writer  she  looms 
large,  it  was  in  the  realm  where  the  philosophical  and  the 
spiritual  commingle,  in  the  philosophy  of  the  spiritual,  that 
she  specially  shone  and  where  she  was  specially  strong 
and  effective.  And  this  expresses,  too,  the  most  striking 
feature  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  work;  it  was  effective, — widely  and 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  55 

amazingly  effective.  Though  her  thought,  as  expressed  in 
Science  and  Health  and  her  other  writings,  was  often  in- 
volved— as  is  often  unavoidable  in  dealing  with  subjects 
that  do  not  accommodate  themselves  to  the  foot-rule  sys- 
tem of  elucidation — her  language  was  always  most  simple 
and  even  her  most  earnest  controversial  style  was  kindly. 
Nothing  was  ever  more  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  life- 
work  of  an  individual  than  was  the  spirituality,  the  kindly 
nature  and  the  human  understanding  of  Mrs.  Eddy  demon- 
strated in  her  work.  This,  too,  was  one  of  the  obvious 
causes  of  her  effectiveness  as  a  leader  and  teacher.  No 
one  at  all  familiar  through  Christian  Science  publications 
with  the  tone  of  the  many  letters  addressed  to  her  from 
Christian  Scientists  from  all  parts  of  the  world  where  civi- 
lization has  gained  a  foothold,  could  doubt  that  Mrs.  Eddy 
was  deeply  beloved  by  a  great  multitude  of  people,  whom 
she  had  won  to  her  by  the  wisdom,  the  sincerity,  the  sym- 
pathy, the  forbearance  and  what  might  we  think  be  called 
the  keen  spirituality  evident  in  her  written  work.  That 
Mrs.  Eddy's  life,  energies,  and  talents  were  devoted  to  the 
general  good  is  evident,  not  only  in  the  million  or  more 
who  are  identified  with  the  Christian  Science  church,  but 
in  the  millions  more  who  through  contact  with  the  move- 
ment have  been  restored  to  health,  through  its  system  of 
healing,  and  strengthened,  blessed,  and  comforted  by  its 
spiritual  philosophy. 

[Piqua  (O.)  Leader-Dispatch] 

Founder  of  the  Christian  Science  cult,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  her  life,  her  work,  her  faith  have  done  untold  good, 
and  doubtless  it  will  be  admitted  that  in  the  church  she 
founded,  fostered,  and  furthered,  her  good  works  shall  go 
on.  Thus,  even  in  that  aspect  it  cannot  be  said  that  Mary 
Baker  Eddy  is  dead.  Death  nowadays  has  come  to  mean 
so  little  to  the  broadened  mind  of  advancing  civilization 
that,  when  a  great  mind  and  a  pure  spirit  pass  beyond  the 
ken  of  our  limited  vision  or  expression,  we  have  begun  to 
dimly  realize  that  death  could  mean  no  cessation  of  use- 
fulness. 


56  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

Thus  with  Mrs.  Eddy.  Agree  with  or  admire  her  as 
we  may;  disagree  with  or  scoff  at  her  as  we  will,  she  leaves 
behind  a  feeling  of  power,  of  purpose,  of  accomplishment, 
and  of  a  faith  so  strong  that  we  are  forced  to  admit  that 
death  is  but  a  fleeting  breath  that  has  passed  over  the  flick- 
ering light  of  human  life,  or  a  shadow  that  has  passed  be- 
tween our  vision  and  the  object  of  our  comprehension.  The 
great  souls  are  still  here,  and,  but  that  our  eyes  are 
dimmed,  our  vision  limited,  we  should  still  be  in  touch  and 
communication  with  them. 

That  she  died  does  not  in  any  way  detract  from-  the 
seriousness  of  the  teachings  of  Christian  Science.  Other 
great  Christian  disciples  have  died,  but  their  religion  goes 
on,  and  so  may  the  teachings  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  Much 
more  than  the  peace  of  mind  of  the  Christian  Scientists — 
which  even  the  greatest  enemies  of  the  cult  confess  exists 
among  her  followers — must  lie  in  this  belief.  The  church 
has  grown  too  large  and  has  too  many  eminent  thinkers 
in  its  congregations  for  any  general  acceptance  that  the 
belief  merely  eases  the  worries  of  life.  However,  if  it  did 
nothing  more,  and  is  accepted  for  only  this,  what  a  great 
boon  to  mankind  has  been  this  woman,  whose  life,  lived  in 
our  time,  may  a  hundred  years  hence  seem  as  marvelous 
as  that  of  some  of  the  other  great  teachers  that  made  the 
worship  in  the  Christian  religion  one  of  the  great  institu- 
tions of  civilization. 

[Jewish  Review  and  Observer,  Cleveland,  O.] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of  Chris- 
tian Science,  removes  from  the  world  a  great  leader  of 
superior  ability,  and  while  we  do  not  agree  with  her  in 
her  religious  doctrines,  we  must  acknowledge  that  she  was 
one  of  the  greatest  women  of  modern  times,  and  that  it 
was  largely  due  to  her  remarkable  powers  as  a  leader  that 
Christian  Science  has  secured  the  large  number  of  follow- 
ers. Although  Mrs.  Eddy  is  dead,  Christian  Science  will 
live. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  57 

[Aroostook  Pioneer,  Houlton,  Me.] 

In  the  death  of  the  Founder  of  Christian  Science,  America 
has  lost  another  of  its  greatest  women.  However  much 
we  may  have  disagreed  with  her  or  have  criticized  her  ut- 
terances, we  can  but  admit  her  greatness  and  the  remark- 
able power  she  had  of  leading.  She  founded  a  religious 
sect  that  has  shaken  the  foundations  of  every  evangelical 
church  in  the  country.  Her  life  has  added  one  more  proof 
that  humanity  longs  for  a  belief  in  the  spiritual,  for  trust 
in  a  higher  power,  and  for  visual  evidence  of  its  agency. 
Mrs.  Eddy's  religion  appealed  to  the  sick,  the  afflicted,  and 
the  hypochondriac,  where  others  appealed  to  the  outcast 
and  the  forsaken.  She  won  largely,  and  the  force  of  her 
character  will  be  felt  in  her  church  for  all  time.  Regard- 
less of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  Christian  Science,  it  has 
become  an  unmistakable  influence  of  the  century.  Mrs. 
Eddy  built  a  church  which  has  drawn  to  it  persons  of 
culture,  education,  and  property,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
that  it  will  go  on,  accepting  what  we  call  the  death  of  its 
Leader  as  only  one  more  demonstration  of  her  greatness. 

[Saratogian,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.] 

The  public  may  well  heed  the  very  useful  and  desirable 
lesson  emphasized  at  the  recent  funeral  of  Mrs.  Eddy, 
Founder  and  Leader  of  the  Christian  Science  church — that 
of  simplicity  and  lack  of  show  and  ostentation  at  such 
ceremonies.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  Leader  of  a  following  of 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  persons.  To  her  as  the 
Founder  of  their  religious  belief  they  naturally  gave  great 
love  and  veneration.  Naturally  they  would  desire  to  show 
at  her  death  some  measure  of  their  grief  and  sentiment. 
The  opportunity  was  presented  for  much  of  display  and 
ceremony  and  fulsome  tribute.  But  it  was  not  utilized.  On 
the  contrary,  there  was  no  parading  of  grief,  no  array  of 
eulogy  disbursers,  no  costly  ostentation,  and  little  of  the 
outward  show  of  paraded  grief  and  funeral  trappings. 

All  of  which  was  eminently  sensible  and  proper.  The 
average  funeral  eulogy  is  a  farce.     The  usual  display  at 


58  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

such  a  time  is  grossly  out  of  place.  A  burden  of  debt  is 
habitually  incurred  that  is  wrong  in  every  sense  and  often 
a  great  hardship  to  those  who  are  directly  concerned  in 
meeting  it.  Such  display  and  expense  assuage  in  no  way 
the  sorrow  of  mourners  or  the  peace  of  the  departed.  If 
Christian  Science  teaches  the  more  sensible  way,  it  is  doing 
a  great  service  to  humanity. 

[Boston  (Mass.)  Courier] 

Whatever  may  be  the  prevailing  opinion  as  to  the  tenets 
of  her  faith  and  its  lasting  benefit  to  the  great  cause  of 
religion,  none  can  deny  that  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  remarkable 
personality,  one  of  the  great  characters  which  stand  out 
in  bold  relief  in  the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  in 
spiritual  affairs.  Long  after  many  who  have  won  renown 
in  literature,  in  art,  in  social  and  political  advancement  shall 
be  forgotten  with  the  passing  years,  her  name  will  live  as 
the  Founder  of  a  great  religious  cult  which  has  taken  firm 
hold  of  the  souls  and  consciences  of  millions  of  the  human 
race  and  has  extended  to  the  farthest  limits  of  civilization. 
To  her  genius,  her  inspiration,  her  mental  and  spiritual 
powers  alone  the  world  owes  the  great  religious  movement 
of  Christian  Science.  From  humble  origin  it  has  risen  in 
the  short  space  of  thirty  years  to  include  in  its  devotees 
some  of  the  most  intellectual  and  wealthiest  among  the 
English-speaking  people.  Her  leadership  was  accepted 
without  qualification  or  rivalry,  and  most  graciously  she 
has  exercised  the  control  and  spiritual  direction  so  freely 
accorded  to  her.  She  has  brought  to  herself  the  power  of 
concentration  and  a  devotion  which  alone  would  have  marked 
her  as  a  character  of  eminence. 

The  record  of  Christian  Science  has  been  phenomenal. 
What  a  rise  and  progress  it  has  had!  No  other  faith  in 
the  world's  history,  as  far  as  human  annuls  go,  has  risen 
and  extended  so  rapidly,  so  quietly,  so  persistently.  The 
cause  projected  by  her,  nourished  patiently  and  almost  de- 
spondingly  amid  the  misgivings  of  friends  and  reproaches 
of  enemies,  triumphed  in  the  moment  of  despair.     It  was 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  59 

an  individual  triumph.  It  showed  the  implicit  confidence 
in  the  germs  of  truth  at  the  base  of  her  belief,  and  the 
stability  of  her  faith.  The  fact  that  the  cause  has  ex- 
tended so  far,  that  it  has  drawn  so  many  adherents,  that  her 
precepts  and  sayings  are  regarded  as  an  inspiration  to  her 
followers,  is  an  acknowledgment  of  her  great  individuality. 

[Evening  Tribune,  Des  Moines,  la.] 

In  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  the  United  States  loses  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  her  time.  Whatever 
may  be  thought  of  the  faith  she  founded,  the  fact  that  she 
founded  a  faith,  intelligent  people  by  hundreds  of  thousands 
profess  in  these  intellectual  days  of  scientific  caution,  marks 
her  a  prodigy.  Moreover,  her  faith,  instead  of  being  gross 
or  materialistic,  has  been  idealistic  to  a  degree,  so  much  so 
that  to  the  unbeliever  it  has  seemed  fanciful,  a  remarkable 
faith  to  gain  adherents  for  in  a  practical  age,  when  belief 
is  confined  very  largely  to  things  seen. 

[Billings  Journal,  Billings,  Mont.] 

With  the  passing  of  the  acknowledged  Founder  and 
Leader  of  the  Christian  Science  church  organization,  there 
departed  from  this  life  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women 
the  world  has  ever  known.  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  a 
believer  in  the  religious  tenets  she  propounded  to  realize 
this  fact,  nor  does  appreciation  of  her  stupendous  labors 
depend  in  any  manner  upon  acceptance  of  their  verity.  Call 
her  inspiration  by  whatever  term  you  choose,  it  is  still  un- 
deniably true  that  her  teachings  were  accepted  without 
question  by  a  very  large  number  of  unusually  intelligent 
men  and  women  upon  whose  lives  was  exerted  as  powerful 
an  influence  for  good — both  material  and  spiritual — as  has 
ever  been  recorded  in  the  history  of  civilization. 

Apart  from  and  independent  of  any  doctrinal  feature 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist — a  discussion  of  which 
would  not  be  proper  in  a  secular  newspaper — there  towers 
the  supreme  personality  of  its  Founder.     Forceful,  and 


60  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

dominating  by  the  power  of  spiritual  strength,  she  won 
and  held  a  loyalty  seldom  accorded  the  pioneer  in  a  re- 
ligious movement.  The  persistence  of  her  thought  was  a 
mighty  force  that  convinced  where  doubt  existed  and  broke 
down  the  barriers  erected  by  mental  opposition  to  a  degree 
that  has  been  the  marvel  of  her  age. 

Coupled  with  a  positive  genius  for  organization,  there 
was  a  depth  of  sincerity  and  a  profound  earnestness  which 
illumined  the  written  word  as  much  as  the  spoken  sentence 
and  brought  heart  and  mind  of  her  followers  captive  to 
the  central  precept  she  sought  to  inculcate,  and  she  believed 
no  more  implicitly  than  did  they  in  the  essential  quality 
of  its  divine  origin.  Such  power  to  sway  others  is  seldom 
met  with  in  all  the  records  of  all  times,  and  its  effect  cannot 
be  other  than  vital  upon  the  life  and  destiny  of  the  human 
race,  in  the  history  of  which  few  personalities  have  been 
more  impressive  than  that  of  the  aged  woman  from  whose 
mortal  frame  the  masterful  spirit  has  finally  departed. 

[Harlem  Local,  New  York  City] 

Whatever  difference  of  views  may  be  entertained  by 
those  who  are  not  connected  with  that  great  and  growing 
religious  organization  as  to  its  merits  and  benefits  to  man- 
kind, there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the  re- 
markable woman  who  originated  and  promulgated  the 
principles  and  doctrines  of  that  faith.  The  movement  which 
Mrs.  Eddy  began  less  than  forty  years  ago  has  increased 
in  its  influence  and  power  to  an  extent  that  has  surprised 
even  her  followers,  notwithstanding  the  virulent  assaults  that 
have  been  made  upon  it,  and  within  the  past  few  years 
many  of  the  most  cultured  and  eminent  men  and  women  in 
this  country  have  become  closely  identified  with  the  Chris- 
tian Science  church.  The  fundamental  basis  of  the  new- 
found faith  is  that  God  is  omnipotent  and  omnipresent 
good,  and  where  He  exists  evil  cannot  prevail;  that  man 
was  created  in  His  image  and  likeness,  and  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  perfect  and  immaculate  incarnation  of  His 
character. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  61 

Mrs.  Eddy  announced,  as  she  doubtless  believed,  that 
"divine  Love  always  has  met  and  always  will  meet  every 
human  need"  (Science  and  Health,  p.  494),  and  that  the 
man  who  loves  God  will  also  love  his  fellow-men  under  all 
circumstances  and  conditions.  Christian  Scientists  believe 
that  if  their  faith  were  universally  accepted  there  would 
be  no  need  of  battleships,  armories,  fortifications,  hospitals, 
almshouses,  prisons,  police,  nor  criminal  courts,  and  that 
Mr.  Carnegie's  admirable  system  to  encourage  temperance 
would  be  entirely  useless  and  unnecessary;  all  of  which  is 
only  another  reawakening  of  the  spirit  of  the  teachings  of 
the  holy  Scriptures. 

[Utica  (N.Y.)  Press] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Leader  of  the 
Christian  Science  church,  removes  a  remarkable  woman, 
whose  activities  were  continued  till  her  ninetieth  year. 
Whatever  anybody  may  think  about  the  doctrines  she  taught 
or  the  church  she  founded,  it  must  be  conceded  by  her  se- 
verest critic  that  she  was  a  woman  of  exceptional  ability  in 
several  directions,  and  that  her  equal  has  been  seldom  seen. 

It  is  a  great  achievement  to  have  built  up  in  practically 
three  decades  a  church  as  large  as  that  founded  by  the  de- 
ceased. She  wrote  Science  and  Health  in  1875,  began 
preaching  in  1878,  and  organized  The  First  Church  of 
Christ,  Scientist,  at  Boston  in  1879.  Since  then  the  growth 
has  been  phenomenal,  till  now  there  is  scarcely  a  com- 
munity of  any  size  in  the  country  where  this  denomination 
is  not  represented.  One  need  not  subscribe  to  it  or  agree 
with  it  to  accord  honest  respect  to  those  who  do  believe  in 
it,  for  this  is  a  free  country  in  which  everybody  is  entitled 
to  absolute  personal  freedom  in  matters  of  this  sort.  Surely 
the  Christian  Scientists  are  good  citizens,  honorable  and 
upright,  and  that  is  as  far  as  the  public  has  any  concern. 
To  Mrs.  Eddy  must  be  paid  the  tribute  of  exceptional  ability 
as  a  leader  and  an  executive,  and  those  who  have  faith  in 
her  regard  her  with  an  affection  that  knew  no  bounds. 


62  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

[San  Diego  (Cal.)  Herald] 

The  passing  of  Mrs.  Eddy  removes  from  the  world's 
stage  the  most  wonderful  woman  in  all  the  world's  history. 
As  the  Founder  of  a  great  religion,  she  lived  to  see  her 
adherents  swell  to  greater  numbers  than  was  ever  known 
in  the  lifetime  of  one  (except  Mahomet)  who  preached  a 
new  doctrine.  As  mourning  for  departed  friends  was  not 
favored  by  the  great  Leader,  she  will  be  missed  more  and 
mourned  less  than  any  prominent  leader  in  the  world.  The 
people  of  this  sect  have  enjoyed  more  practical  and  satis- 
factory benefits  from  their  religion  than  have  those  of  any 
religion  ever  promulgated. 

[Weatherford  (Tex.)  Democrat] 

With  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  head  of  the  Christian 
Science  church,  another  rare  and  splendid  character  has 
passed  away.  Her  faith  was  not  our  faith,  though  that 
is  not  to  say  she  was  wrong.  In  groping  through  the  fogs 
and  mist  she  may  have  come  nearer  to  the  truth  than  we. 
Anyway,  it  was  her  mission  to  do  nothing  but  good,  and 
the  world  is  better  because  she  lived.  In  the  sweep  of  the 
centuries,  there  are  few  such  souls  that  come  to  dwell  on 
earth. 

[Mercury,  San  Jose,  Cal.] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  death  comes  at  a  time  when  the  church  is 
not  only  vast  numerically  but  potential  financially.  She 
carried  it  through  the  days  of  its  childhood,  on  up  to  its 
present  comparative  maturity,  and  passed  away  idolized 
by  thousands  and  with  the  knowledge  that  a  monument  is 
left  to  her  memory  such  as  has  been  the  privilege  of  few 
women.  It  is  inconceivable  that  Christian  Science  has  been 
able  to  satisfy  its  thousands  of  devotees  with  a  simple  pan- 
acea for  mental  derangements.  Had  it  not  restored  large 
numbers  of  bodies  to  normal  health,  it  could  never  have 
had  an  indefinite  lease  of  life  and  the  ability  to  attract  to 
its  fold  intellectual  people  of  all  races. 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of 
her  day.    In  the  face  of  bitter  persecution  and  the  almost 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  63 

unanimous  opposition  of  society,  she  held  fast  to  her  faith 
until  finally  her  sect  became  so  formidable  that  her  tra- 
ducers  either  quit  the  conflict  or  joined  her  followers. 
Whether  her  Science  is  what  it  claims  to  be  still  remains  a 
matter  of  opinion.  But  that  those  who  believe  in  it  have 
the  same  right  to  their  faith  as  those  who  believe  in  other 
forms  of  worship  there  is  no  denying.  In  this  country  re- 
ligion is  left  to  a  man's  own  choice.  What  is  helpful  to 
one  may  be  destructive  to  another.  It  all  depends  on  the 
view-point,  and  perhaps  a  little  on  the  temperament. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  Christian  Science  is  here,  and,  we  should 
say  unhesitatingly,  to  stay.  Like  other  religions  it  will  have 
its  defenders  and  its  critics  until  the  end.  In  the  mean- 
time, no  just  man  or  woman  will  withhold  from  Mrs.  Eddy 
the  meed  of  praise  which  her  great  accomplishment  as  one. 
of  the  world's  most  brilliant  executives  and  organizers 
deserves. 

[Goodwin's  Weekly,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  a  great  woman.  Foes  as  well  as 
friends  must  admit  that.  She  kindled  a  new  light  on  earth. 
Some  said  it  was  a  bale-fire,  such  as  robbers  build  upon  the 
seashore  to  lure  passing  ships  upon  the  breakers;  others 
that  it  was  the  real  star  of  Bethlehem,  signaling  a  closer 
walk  between  the  children  of  men  and  the  dwellers  in  the 
clear  light  in  the  realms  where  light  had  its  birth.  Thou- 
sands and  millions  believe  her  a  new  prophetess;  millions 
have  been  comforted  by  her,  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands who  were  afflicted  have  been  comforted  and  healed 
by  the  ministrations  she  prescribed.  It  is  not  for  one  who 
does  not  comprehend  her  to  judge  of  her,  but  it  is  only 
justice  to  say  she  wrought  a  marvelous  work  on  earth;  gave 
peace  and  serenity  and  health  to  tens  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  homes.  She  was  a  priestess  of  a  faith  which  was  broad 
enough  to  encompass  all  the  children  of  men;  she  was  as  self- 
contained  as  a  second  Hypatia,  and  one  sovereign  proof  of 
her  power  was  that  when  assailed  she  not  only  met  the  as- 
saults with  a  superb  serenity,  but  so  impressed  her  followers 
that  they,  too,  had  nothing  but  pity  for  her  assailants. 


64  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

She  lived  here  on  earth  twenty  years  beyond  man's  al- 
lotted time,  then,  unafraid,  and  with  faculties  undimmed, 
without  a  sigh,  sank  peacefully  into  her  final  sleep.  The 
impression  she  leaves  is  perhaps  the  most  profound  that  any 
mortal,  putting  on  immortality,  has  left  in  this  age. 

[Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Times] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  marks  the  passing 
of  a  woman  who  is  probably  the  most  notable  of  this  gen- 
eration; certainly  none  other  has  had  more  widespread  in- 
fluence or  is  regarded  with  greater  reverence  by  more  people. 
The  church  or  creed  which  she  founded  has  spread  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  has  millions  of  followers,  and  among 
those  followers  are  included  some  of  the  most  intellectual 
and  cultured  persons  of  every  community. 

Personally,  Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  woman  of  a  most  lovable 
character.  Abuse  of  all  sorts  had  been  showered  on  her 
at  different  times  in  her  career,  but  she  bore  it  with  a  pa- 
tience which  ultimately  disarmed  many  of  her  critics.  She 
had  been  termed  an  impostor  by  many  persons,  but  in  recent 
years  the  world  had  come  to  take  a  fairer  view  of  her. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  tenets  of  the  creed  she  taught, 
one  thing  is  certain — no  man  or  woman  ever  founded  such 
a  creed,  which  spread  to  all  sections  of  the  world  and  has 
made  millions  of  converts,  who  was  not  absolutely  sincere 
in  her  own  belief  in  that  creed  or  religion. 

[Evening  Journal,  Wilmington,  Del.l 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  who  passed  away  on  Saturday 
night,  may  be  regarded  without  exaggeration  as  the  most 
remarkable  woman  of  her  times.  Her  hold  upon  her  fol- 
lowers was  indeed  wonderful.  In  a  day  when  all  questions 
of  a  religious  nature  are  subjected  to  the  most  critical  tests, 
when  some  boast  that  the  statements  and  influences  of  men 
of  regular  science  have  great  weight  and  tend  to  demolish 
religious  theories  and  principles  of  the  past,  Mrs.  Eddy 
founded  a   religious   denomination  which  has   grown   and 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  65 

prospered  in  a  very  remarkable  manner.     Her  adherents 
have  been  and  are  of  a  type  of  high  intelligence. 

One  thing  evident  about  the  true  Christian  Scientists, 
which  shows  the  powerful  and  beneficial  influence  that 
Mrs.  Eddy  has  exerted  in  the  world,  is  that  they  are  firm 
in  the  faith,  energetic  and  relentless  in  upholding  it,  and  to 
all  outward  appearances  in  their  lives  are  most  happy. 
The  religion  founded  by  Mrs.  Eddy  has  brought  peace  to 
many  a  distressed  soul.  After  all,  what  higher  benefit  could 
it  confer? 

[Morning  American,  Creston,  la.] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  has  removed  from  earth  one  of 
the  greatest  characters  that  the  world  has  ever  produced. 
This  wonderful  woman  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  has 
organized  one  of  the  greatest  Christian  organizations  of 
the  country.  She  was  a  leader  of  strong  personality.  She 
was  an  organizer  of  remarkable  ability.  She  built  up  a 
church  having  as  its  leaders  and  expounders  men  of  great 
minds  and  strong  characters.  Whether  we  agree  with  her 
doctrines  or  not  there  are  thousands  of  men  and  women 
who  will  testify  to  the  efficacy  of  curing  by  prayer,  so  that 
the  Christian  Science  church  is  not  merely  a  church  of  be- 
lief, but  it  is  a  militant  church  that  brings  to  its  believers 
physical  as  well  as  spiritual  regeneration.  We  believe  Mrs. 
Eddy  has  done  a  great  work  in  the  world  for  good. 

[Kansas  City  (Mo.)  Journal] 

Thousands  of  women  who  do  not  believe  in  Christian 
Science  feel  proud  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  achievements.  Few  men 
have  wielded  so  great  an  influence  over  the  minds  and  lives 
of  so  many  people  as  this  philosophic  woman. 

[Springfield  (111.)  News] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  lived  long  enough  to  see  the 
Science  which  she  founded  become  one  of  the  permanent 
and  uplifting  forces  of  Christendom.  It  is  about  thirty- 
five  years  ago  that  Mrs.  Eddy  published  her  now  famous 


66  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

book,  known  as  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scrip- 
tures," and  it  was  four  years  later  that  the  first  Christian 
Science  church  was  formed  with  seventeen  members.  To- 
day there  are  nearly  a  thousand  chartered  churches,  nearly 
four  thousand  recognized  practitioners,  and  a  total  church- 
membership  of  a  million  souls. 

Something  of  an  achievement  to  be  accomplished  in  thir- 
ty-five years,  and  all  within  the  lifetime  of  the  Founder. 

[Eagle,  Wichita,  Kan.] 

Probably  no  other  American  woman  by  her  own  efforts 
ever  performed  such  stupendous  work.  The  vehemence  of 
controversy  which  has  been  heaped  upon  her  labors  indi- 
cates the  genius  of  the  leadership  which  has  overcome  such 
vast  opposition. 

Mrs.  Eddy  rallied  disciples  around  her  until  the  follow- 
ers of  her  teachings  have  spread  over  the  world,  numbering 
not  thousands  but  hundreds  of  thousands.  Even  the  lay- 
man of  controversial  bent  who  finds  in  Mrs.  Eddy's  work 
much  that  is  intangible  and  to  him  meaningless,  grants  that 
he  has  tangible  evidence  of  work  for  the  good  of  mankind 
in  the  thousands  of  persons  who  credit  to  Mrs.  Eddy's  work 
their  rescue  from  direful  experiences. 

[St.  Paul  (Minn.)  Dispatch] 

There  may  be  two  opinions  upon  Christian  Science ;  there 
can  be  but  one  opinion  on  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  She  was 
unquestionably  one  of  the  dominant  influences  of  the  age, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  its  women,  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable,  certainly  the  most  efficient.  And  she  so  repre- 
sents and  permeates  the  cult  known  as  "Christian  Science" 
that  to  give  her  important  rank  is  to  give  her  teaching  im- 
portant meaning. 

It  must  also  be  admitted  that  the  sweeping  influence  of 
this  "Science"  could  not  have  been  had  not  the  "Science" 
itself  contained  the  truth  and  answered  what  was  plainly  a 
very  large  human  need.  It  is  entirely  possible,  notwith- 
standing the  adverse  criticism,  the  mirthful  criticism,  that 
Christian  Science  has  within  it  truth,  whether  new  or  old, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  67 

which  shall  withstand  contemporary  criticism  and  the  neg- 
lect of  time.  If  so,  then  the  personal  triumph  of  Mary 
Baker  Eddy  will  be  great  and  lasting. 

[Lincoln  (Neb.)  Daily  Star] 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  this  or  any  other 
age  passed  from  the  scene  of  worldly  activity  when  Mary 
Baker  Eddy  went  to  sleep  to  wake  no  more  to  mortal  con- 
sciousness. There  may  have  been  women  whose  person- 
ality stood  out  in  more  marked  contrast  with  her  kind,  who 
were  more  spectacular,  and  made  more  noise  in  the  every- 
day life  of  a  somewhat  noisy  world;  but  for  far-reaching  and 
enduring  effect  upon  mankind,  the  work  of  this  woman  who 
has  just  passed  away  at  her  home  in  Boston  is  unparalleled 
by  that  of  any  other  woman  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

Christian  Science  owes  to  Mary  Baker  Eddy  the  hold  it 
has  secured  upon  the  devotional  spirit  of  mankind,  and 
every  adherent  of  its  church  holds  her  in  reverential  mem- 
ory. Her  death  will  occasion  world-wide  regret  and  sorrow, 
although  her  span  of  life  has  been  as  long  in  years  as  her 
usefulness  could  survive.  Her  work  will  live  after  her  in- 
definitely, possibly  until  the  end  of  time.  Her  life  has  been 
a  lesson  of  what  her  teachings  can  accomplish. 

Among  the  great  women  of  the  world  there  has  been  none 
who  has  left  so  great  an  impress  as  has  Mrs.  Eddy. 

[Harper's  Weekly] 

The  tone  of  the  newspaper  comments  on  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Eddy  indicates  a  decided  increase  of  respect  in  recent 
years  both  for  her  character  and  for  her  achievements.  Nor 
is  it  a  case  of  "de  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum,"  but  a  taking 
of  one  consideration  with  another,  and  giving  a  judgment  of 
net  approbation.  Thus,  to  quote  two  of  our  more  thought- 
ful and  mentally  exacting  contemporaries,  the  Sun  speaks 
of  "the  astonishing  influence  she  exerted  in  thousands  of 
homes  for  the  amelioration  of  life  and  manners  in  some  of 
the  details  of  family  and  social  intercourse,"  teaching  cheer- 
fulness of  spirit  and  charity  in  judging  deeds  and  motives. 


68  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

The  Springfield  Republican  says  her  life  was  a  marvel,  and 
that  having  stumbled  upon  the  truth  that  the  influence  of 
mind  over  the  body  is  really  profound  and  far-reaching, 
the  credit  cannot  be  denied  her  of  having  forced,  however 
extravagantly,  the  valuable  qualities  of  this  principle  of 
therapeutics  upon  the  world. 

Certainly  Mrs.  Eddy,  and  the  theories,  and  practical 
applications  of  them,  with  which  she  is  so  closely  associ- 
ated, have  had  a  notable  influence  on  certain  phases  of 
the  thought  of  her  time.  She  was  a  pioneer — one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  of  whom  there  is  a  record — and  there 
are  few  now  who  doubt  that  the  body  of  facts  and  experi- 
ence which  has  resulted  from  her  pioneering  is  a  valuable 
gain  to  knowledge. 

[Christian  Advocate,  Dallas,  Texas] 

After  all,  newspaper  reports  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing, the  late  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  and 
conservator  of  Christian  Science,  did  leave  considerable 
money  to  her  son,  his  children,  her  adopted  son,  and  several 
other  beneficiaries.  However,  the  bulk  of  her  great  fortune 
was  bequeathed  to  the  church  founded  by  her  genius  and 
ability.  Her  fortune  came  to  her  largely  through  her  book 
"Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  and  nu- 
merous other  writings.  During  her  life  she  was  liberal 
with  her  means,  and  in  no  sense  can  she  be  said  to  have  been 
a  woman  of  penurious  nature.  In  various  ways  and  to 
various  humane  institutions  she  opened  her  hand  and  scat- 
tered much  of  her  annual  income,  and  now  in  death  it 
all  goes  largely  to  sustain  the  cause  set  upon  foot  by  her 
life-work. 

[The  Alaska  Citizen,  Fairbanks,  Alaska] 

All  over  the  world  are  homes  which  have  been  brightened 
by  the  doctrine  taught  by  this  truly  great  woman.  Through 
her  works  a  new  religion  has  been  established,  and  has  taken 
root  wherever  Christianity  is  practised.  While  by  no  means 
universally  accepted  as  all-embracing,  even  its  opponents  are 
comoelled  to  admit  that  it  achieves  with  thousands  that 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  69 

uplift  they  have  vainly  sought  through  other  teachings.  And 
there  is  little  doubt  that  this  new  religion  is  sufficiently 
well  founded  to  insure  of  its  enduring  for  all  time.  In  the 
earlier  period  of  the  era  of  Christian  Science,  Mrs.  Eddy 
found  her  task  a  heavy  one;  for,  like  the  Saviour,  she  was 
reviled  and  discredited  by  the  scoffers.  It  was  then  her 
Christian  fortitude  was  evidenced  to  a  marked  degree,  and 
her  calm  refusal  to  be  goaded  into  reprisals  undoubtedly 
won  many  thousands  to  her  cause. 

In  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  the  world  has  lost  a  teacher 
whose  doctrines  have  become,  in  two  decades,  more  wide- 
spread, and  have  been  adopted  to  a  greater  degree,  than 
those  of  any  man  or  woman  who  has  lived  in  the  past  hun- 
dred years.  That  those  teachings  have  been  for  the  world's 
betterment  will  be  most  eagerly  acknowledged  by  the  many 
followers  who  to-day  mourn  her  death. 

[Syracuse  (N.  Y.)  Journal] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy  has  done  that  in  this  world  which  will 
make  her  live  and  live.  Her  work  is  the  greatest  monument. 
She  has  given  a  calm  to  many  lives  which  has  surpassed 
that  of  many  philosophies. 

[Overland  China  Mail,  Hongkong,  China] 

Confirmation  was  received  on  the  ninth  in  Hongkong, 
by  private  wire  from  Boston,  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy, 
Founder  of  Christian  Science,  which  we  announced  on 
Monday.  It  was  in  1875  that  the  first  edition  of  Science 
and  Health  appeared,  and.  Mrs.  Eddy's  followers  now  can 
be  numbered  by  thousands  in  nearly  every  land.  She  was 
undoubtedly  a  wonderful  woman,  and  one  who  won  the  un- 
questioning, whole-hearted  support  of  those  who  believed  in 
her  teachings. 

[Morning  Star,  Rockford,  111.] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  a  remarkable  woman,  one  of 
the  greatest  the  world  has  ever  known.  The  daughter  of 
plain  New  England  parents,  who  were  deeply  religious  and 
who  bequeathed  their  stern  religious  views  to  her,  she  be- 


70  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

came  the  founder  of  a  sect  which  in  this  country  is  esti- 
mated to  have  a  membership  of  a  million.  This  great  fol- 
lowing was  built  up  within  little  more  than  three  decades. 
In  its  corner-stone  was  "heal  the  sick,"  and  that  millions 
were  healed  is  not  gainsaid.  She  founded  her  faith  on  the 
Bible,  on  the  teachings  of  the  "great  healer." 

She  knew  the  Bible  as  few  knew  it,  indeed  to  her  its 
meanings  and  teachings  were  as  sure  and  understandable 
as  the  alphabet.  From  cover  to  cover  it  contained  no  doubt 
and  not  a  line  bore  a  misgiving.  It  was  inspired  and  stood 
for  the  betterment  of  mankind.  It  not  only  healed  the  mind 
but  the  body.  It  was  a  sheet  anchor,  and  clinging  to  it 
meant  physical  and  spiritual  safety.  These  were  her  teach- 
ings, and  whether  we  believe  in  them  or  not,  we  must  ad- 
mit that  she  did  measureless  good.  That  she  was  actuated 
by  good  purposes  and  sought  the  ennoblement  of  her  fel- 
lows cannot  be  denied. 

Mrs.  Eddy  taught  that  life  is  beautiful  as  it  becomes 
pure.  She  taught  there  is  no  death  as  the  pagan  saw  it, 
but  that  to  pass  from  this  death  was  to  pass  into  the  land 
of  the  forever.  Though  she  has  gone,  Truth,  as  she  under- 
stood it,  will  never  perish. 

[Arizona  Sentinel,  Yuma,  Ariz.] 

Sunday  there  passed  from  the  life  of  this  world — not 
from  its  cares,  for  she  had  risen  above  them  all — the  great- 
est of  all  women — Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of 
Christian  Science.  From  the  present  day  back  to  where 
disappear  in  the  mists  of  tradition  the  initial  mileposts  of 
Aryan  civilization,  paralleling  the  achievement  records  of 
the  world's  super  men,  the  pages  of  history  are  resplendent 
with  the  glory  of  earth's  great  women.  Viewed  from  a  broad 
perspective,  however,  they  stand  a  sisterhood  of  similarity 
— all  save  one.    Like  her  there  was  none. 

Excepting  her  alone,  the  great  women  of  history  gained 
heritage  to  supremacy  through  lavish  bestowals  of  nature  in 
prodigal  mood.  Great  beauty  had  they,  or  great  wit,  or  over- 
dominant  will  and  mentality  equal  to  masculinity.     None 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  71 

of  these  had  she.  Not  hers  the  magnificence  of  Sheba's 
queen,  the  splendor  of  Semiramis,  the  passion  of  Cleopatra, 
the  militant  spirit  of  Maria  Theresa,  the  brutality  of  Cath- 
erine, the  grace  of  Marie  Antoinette  or  the  wit  of  Madame 
de  Stael.  Nothing  was  hers  save  the  gentle  force  of  love. 
Yet  through  it  she  founded  a  spiritual  empire  that  shall 
live  after  her,  shall  grow  after  her,  and  whose  not  slaved, 
but  freed,  subjects  shall  revere  her  memory  forever. 

[Peoria  (111.)  Journal] 

The  other  day  there  passed  away  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able women  of  the  past  and  present  century.  Her  prototype 
has  never  been  known  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

She  was  the  originator  and  the  leader  of  a  cult  that  is 
known  all  over  the  world,  and  that  embraces  in  its  mem- 
bership some  of  the  most  intelligent  people  of  this  or  any 
other  nation.  And  therein  it  differs  from  any  other  cult 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge.  Generally  any  move- 
ment like  that  of  Christian  Science  takes  in  first  the  lower 
or  at  least  the  mediocre  classes.  The  association  of  which 
Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  head  took  in  the  highest  and  the  most 
intelligent. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  Christian  Science,  there  must 
be  something  about  it  to  attract  or  such  would  not  have 
been  the  case.  There  must  have  been  something  extraor- 
dinary about  the  head  of  that  church;  or  she  would  not 
have  attracted  the  clientage  that  she  did.  A  few  years  ago 
there  was  an  attempt  made  to  "write  down"  Mrs.  Eddy. 
It  failed,  and  that  was  another  demonstration  of  her  great 
strength.  The  sincerity  of  Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  questioned, 
but  we  have  never  entertained  the  least  doubt  that  she  was 
perfectly  sincere  in  all  that  she  said  or  did. 

[Minneapolis  (Minn.)  Journal] 

A  leader  to  succeed  Mrs.  Eddy  "never  will  be  put  for- 
ward," is  the  word  unofficially  emanating  from  the  directors 
of  The  Mother  Church  in  Boston.  In  this  connection  is 
recalled  the  fact  that  in  1895,  Mrs.  Eddy  issued  an  order 
"ordaining"  the  Scriptures  and  her  own  Science  and  Health 


72  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

as  "pastor"  over  The  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  in 
Boston,  declaring  that  "they  will  continue  to  preach  for 
this  church  and  the  world." 

Higher  criticism,  so  called,  is  supposed  to  have  so  far 
impeached  for  the  majority  of  minds  in  this  age  the  va- 
lidity of  a  book  as  a  medium  through  which  God  speaks, 
that  the  very  props  of  the  churches  relying  upon  the  book 
are  considered  by  many  to  be  broken.  But  here  is  a  faith, 
new  but  as  surely  Christian  in  derivation  and  in  sentiment 
as  any  Christian  denomination  or  church,  planting  itself 
squarely  on  the  written  word,  and  considering  that  writ- 
ten word  as  so  alive  that  it  is  spoken  of  as  "pastor"  and 
accepted  as  leader.  A  rather  surprising  commentary  upon 
the  alleged  triumph  of  the  higher  criticism,  to  say  the  least! 
For  Mrs.  Eddy's  own  work  is  held  not  as  in  the  nature 
of  a  study  and  critical  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  but 
as  an  inspired  interpretation.  Her  interpretation  is  no  more 
analogous  to  modern  rationalistic  criticism  than  are  the 
institutes  of  Calvin.  As  Calvin,  by  those  who  heard  and 
read  him,  was  deemed  something  more  than  religious  scholar 
and  thinker,  was  felt  to  be  inspired  by  the  Spirit,  and  his 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  to  share  in  the  spiritual 
quality  of  those  Scriptures,  so  the  followers  of  Mrs.  Eddy 
have  conceived  of  her  and  her  writings. 

We  are  not  here  discussing  the  authenticity  of  Mrs. 
Eddy's  inspiration,  but  merely  noting  its  claim  and  its  kind. 
It  would  seem  that  rationalism  and  science  have  no  chance 
ever  to  persuade  mankind  that  the  Scriptures  are  history, 
literature,  and  legend,  and  that  their  spiritual  worth  is  a 
matter  of  value  and  not  of  letter.  It  would  seem  as  if  every 
age  interprets  the  Scriptures  according  to  its  vision,  but 
that  the  Scriptures  remain  for  many  in  every  generation 
the  inspired  literal  word. 

[Steamboat  Pilot,  Steamboat  Springs,  Col.] 

Quietly,  gently,  with  the  halo  and  lovelight  of  a  sublime 
faith  that  was  triumphant  over  material  ills,  a  noble  woman 
has  passed  into  new  spheres  of  action,  into  a  wider  con- 


EDITORIAL    COMMENTS  73 

sciousness.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  is  now  being  everywhere 
acclaimed  as  the  most  noble  woman  of  history,  and,  as  one 
paper  says,  through  unnumbered  generations  and  by  count- 
less millions  of  people  she  will  be  revered  as  the  most  in- 
spired woman  of  all  time. 

When  she  first  gave  out  her  beautiful  vision  of  the  new 
faith  which  teaches  the  perfection  of  every  living  thing,  of 
man  made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  of  a  perfect 
creation,  she  was  scoffed  and  ridiculed.  She  lived  to  be  the 
leader  of  a  million  peaceful,  happy  souls  and  to  be  accorded 
a  permanent  place  in  the  thought  and  action  of  the  day  by 
even  those  who  do  not  accept  her  teachings.  Through  her 
message  thousands  of  world-weary,  pain-racked,  and  dis- 
couraged souls  have  been  brought  from  darkness  into  light. 
Her  story,  which  has  been  eagerly  grasped  by  men  and 
women  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  tells  of  no  death  fear,  of 
no  sin  or  suffering,  but  of  man  as  deathless,  perfect,  and 
eternal,  the  child  of  an  infinite  God,  good.  She  has  taught 
and  found  believers  to  the  doctrine  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  not  in  some  far-distant  and  mysterious  land,  but 
begins  here,  when  man  comes  into  harmony  with  his  creator 
and  manifests  divine  Love. 

Coming  into  a  materialistic  age,  she  preached  the  doc- 
trine of  Spirit.  Her  mission  was  to  banish  grief  and  suffer- 
ing, and  the  load  she  has  lifted  from  human  hearts  entitles 
her  to  all  the  loving  affection  that  she  has  received  from  her 
followers,  and  she  has  justly  attained  a  fame  that  will  be 
deathless.  The  whole  world  is  seeking  after  truth.  Thou- 
sands and  hundreds  of  thousands  believe,  and  have  demon- 
strated to  their  satisfaction,  that  through  Mrs.  Eddy  the 
truth  has  been  revealed,  and  she  has  contributed  in  a  greater 
measure  than  any  other  man  or  woman  since  Calvary  to  the 
sum  total  of  human  happiness. 

[Fairbanks  Daily  Times,  Fairbanks,  Alaska] 

The  brief  telegraphic  announcement  of  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of  Christian  Science, 
will  cause  countless  thousands  to  mourn.    No  woman  ever 


74  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

lived  who  did  more  to  strengthen  faith  and  direct  the  foot- 
steps of  humanity  toward  the  Master.  Had  Mrs.  Eddy 
lived  in  the  days  when  Jesus  was  on  earth,  she  would  have 
been  a  leader  among  the  disciples,  and  like  her  Master  would 
doubtless  have  been  crucified.  Living  in  later  times,  she  has 
been  crucified  over  and  over  again  according  to  the  modern 
method,  which  crucifies  the  spirit  instead  of  the  flesh. 
Openly  reviled  by  the  scoffers,  she  showed  the  same  forti- 
tude and  forgiveness  manifested  by  him,  and  like  him,  re- 
plied, "Father,  forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

The  religion  of  Christian  Science  is  so  spiritual  that  many 
mortals  are  unable  to  follow  it  to  all  of  its  conclusions;  but 
it  is  certain  that  all  men  can  live  and  practise  Christian 
Science  in  part,  and  they  are  benefited  and  uplifted  in  pro- 
portion as  they  are  enabled  to  comprehend  its  Principle  and 
apply  it  to  the  daily  problems  of  life.  Neither  the  Science 
nor  the  church  will  die  with  Mrs.  Eddy,  for  it  is  founded 
on  the  rock.  It  may  never  become  the  universal  religion, 
but  it  will  go  on  and  on,  sustaining  the  faith  and  lifting 
millions  of  mortals  up  into  a  spiritual  life  that  will  benefit 
not  only  them  but  all  mankind. 

[Knoxville  (Tenn.)  Sentinel] 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  in  her  ninetieth  year.  Her  old  age  had 
been  serene  and  beautiful.  Whatever  may  be  the  final  word 
about  her  creed,  its  favorable  influence  on  her  own  life 
can  hardly  be  disputed.  Mrs.  Eddy  suffered  much  from  ill 
health  until  past  the  average  of  life.  Her  life-work  began 
in  1866,  when  she  was  forty-five  years  of  age,  but  it  was 
ten  years  before  the  first  Christian  Science  association  was 
founded. 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  a  center  of  many  controversies.  It 
may  be  too  early  now  to  see  her  without  partiality  or  preju- 
dice, but  few  will  deny  that  here  was  a  unique  personality, 
a  buoyant  courage,  and  an  indomitable  will.  Her  life  dif- 
fered from  that  of  most  noteworthy  women.  Its  failures 
were  in  her  youth,  its  successes  were  in  her  riper  years. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  75 

She  found  herself  when  approaching  fifty.  It  was  twenty 
years  longer  before  she  made  the  world  admit  her  success. 
She  will  have  no  successor,  for  her  position  was  that  of  a 
"founder." 

[Denver  (Col.)  Republican] 

In  many  respects  a  remarkable  woman  was  Mrs.  Eddy. 
She  had  tenacity  of  purpose,  a  genius  for  organization,  and 
a  belief  in  herself.  She  had  a  message  to  deliver,  and  that 
message  has  had  a  profound  influence  on  the  thought  of 
to-day  in  this  country.  In  her  lifetime  the  Founder  or 
revealer  of  this  peculiarly  woman's  religion  or  dogma  saw 
it  grow  to  a  numerical  standard  greater  than  any  of  this 
country's  religious  outgrowths,  larger  in  membership  and 
adherents  than  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quaker  faith,  with 
churches  and  practitioners  in  every  civilized  land.  And  it 
is  not  a  militant  religion;  it  wages  no  wars;  it  appeals  to 
the  average  middle  class  more  than  to  the  extremist.  It 
requires  individual  thought  and  study;  to  a  considerable 
degree  it  is  an  individualistic  religion. 

Christian  Science  has  brought  a  high  standard  in  news- 
paper publication.  It  has  demonstrated  at  least  that  there 
is  a  respectable  minority  abroad  that  relishes  decent  jour- 
nalism. All  in  all,  Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  a  power  for  good. 
She  inculcated  gentleness  in  every-day  life;  she  strove  to 
abolish  the  "fear  thought." 

[Decatur  (111.)  Herald] 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  estimate  of  the  life  of  Mary 
Baker  Eddy  by  those  without  the  fold  of  the  church  which 
she  established,  it  must  be  generally  admitted  that  in  many 
respects  she  was  a  remarkable  woman.  Relentlessly  criti- 
cized and  even  persecuted  as  she  was,  assailed  by  the  keenest 
minds  and  the  sharpest  intellects,  her  beliefs  attacked  and 
her  theology  condemned,  she  nevertheless  maintained  her 
prestige  and  saw  her  church  grow  from  one  small  com- 
munity of  worshipers  to  thousands  upon  thousands.  To-day 
Christian  Science  churches  are  represented  in  nearly  every 
city  in  the  land  by  stately  edifices  and  loyal  and  devoted 
members.     Mrs.  Eddy  had  to  a  remarkable  degree  that 


76  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

ability  as  an  organizer  which  is  essential  in  any  great  under- 
taking. Once  her  church  was  established,  she  remained 
the  recognized  head  of  it. 

She  possessed  a  large  amount  of  business  acumen.  This 
even  her  bitterest  enemies  stood  willing  to  admit.  Four 
years  ago,  when  an  attempt  was  being  made  to  show  that 
Mrs.  Eddy  was  being  unduly  influenced  by  a  "clique,"  a 
commission  was  sent  to  visit  her  at  her  Concord  home.  It 
was  the  report  of  this  commission  which  largely  influenced 
those  behind  the  action  to  drop  the  case.  Mrs.  Eddy  was 
then  an  elderly  woman,  who  might  have  been  expected  to 
have  lost  touch  with  business  matters,  but  her  replies  to 
questions  as  to  how  and  why  she  invested  her  money,  were 
worthy  of  the  shrewdest  banker.  This  is  an  age  of  toler- 
ance, if  not  of  the  widest  charity.  Heretics  no  longer  are 
burned,  and  we  do  not  send  to  the  rack  those  whose  re- 
ligious beliefs  differ  from  our  own.  Mrs.  Eddy's  enemies 
have  attacked  her  and  attempted  to  riddle  Science  and 
Health,  but  beyond  declaring  that  her  followers  were 
strangely  deluded  they  have  had  little  to  say  regarding 
those  who  accepted  her  beliefs.  She  drew  to  her  not  only 
women,  but  men — men  of  great  intellect,  business  men, 
scholars,  men  prominent  in  the  professions,  and  in  every 
one  she  found  a  defender. 

It  is  probable  that  no  leader  or  cause  in  history  was 
ever  more  ably  or  systematically  defended.  Christian 
Science  never  antagonizes,  but  permits  no  statement  against 
it  to  pass  unquestioned.  Its  press  system  excites  only 
admiration.  It  is  altogether  improbable  that  Mrs.  Eddy's 
work  will  languish  with  her  demise.  It  will  be  taken  up 
by  strong  and  willing  hands  and  carried  forward,  and  this 
the  more  easily  for  the  reason  that  Mrs.  Eddy  had  worked 
out  her  plans  and  left  her  house  in  order. 

[Beacon,  Cannon  Falls,  Minn.] 

The  tone  of  the  press,  as  shown  in  editorial  comments 
on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  is  a  most  encouraging  in- 
dication of  religious  tolerance,  as  well  as  indicating  the 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  77 

commanding  position  achieved  by  this  teacher  of  righteous- 
ness. The  attitude  of  the  press  in  this  instance  shows 
plainly  that  any  religious  philosophy  that  has  in  it  the 
elements  of  sincerity  and  of  practical  application  to  daily 
life,  any  religious  belief  or  form  that  is  helpful,  is  sure 
to  be  treated  with  toleration.  It  must,  of  course,  stand 
the  test  of  time  to  achieve  permanent  recognition  as  a 
distinct  form,  but  toleration  begins  long  before  this  point 
of  recognition  is  reached.  Mrs.  Eddy's  personality  had 
perhaps  something  to  do  with  the  kindly  expressions  from 
every  quarter  of  the  globe  on  the  occasion  of  her  death, 
but  the  foundation  of  them  was  in  nearly  every  instance 
the  quality  of  her  work.  Mrs.  Eddy's  work  and  her  phi- 
losophy of  religion  and  of  life  is  not  as  generally  under- 
stood as  we  believe  it  should  be,  and  we  take  pleasure  in 
reproducing  some  of  the  many  editorial  comments  that 
have  come  to  hand  touching  her  life  and  its  influence  on 
society.  These  excerpts  are  but  samples  of  the  wide-spread 
comment  occasioned  by  the  death  of  this  great  character, 
whom  the  world  needs  to  know  more  intimately  in  order, 
that  she  may  meet  with  deserved  appreciation. 

[Register-Gazette,  Rockford,  111.] 

The  world  has  lost  a  remarkable  woman  in  the  passing 
on  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  Not  lost  her  entirely, 
however,  for  an  individuality  so  pronounced  as  to  gather 
nearly  a  million  followers  in  a  devotion  which  left  no  room 
for  doubt  of  its  sincerity,  cannot  vanish  with  the  mere 
opening  and  closing  of  the  gates  which  to  so  many  of  us 
separate  the  known  from  the  unknown.  Whatever  the 
judgment  as  to  the  foundations  on  which  she  built,  the 
general  verdict  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  life  must  be  a  kindly  one, 
for  she  taught  helpfulness,  sacrifice,  and  the  inspiration 
that  comes  from  one's  own  efforts;  in  brief,  a  very  human 
doctrine  of  happiness.  She  possessed  to  a  great  degree 
brilliance  of  mind,  temperamental  strength,  and  poise.  She 
found  her  way  unerringly  over  many  rough  places  and 
through  deep  shadows,  and  her  light  seemed  to  glow  with 


78  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

greater  radiance  because  of  them.  The  responsibility  of 
right  thinking  would  seem  a  very  approachable  ground  for 
mankind  indeed,  and  this  Mrs.  Eddy  has  urged  with  a 
gentle  insistence  which  undoubtedly  has  contributed  much 
to  the  sum  of  the  world's  happiness.  It  is  not  easy  to  be- 
lieve at  this  time  that  the  church  risen  on  her  discovery 
will  crumble;  it  is  far  easier  to  believe  its  faith  is  suffi- 
ciently established  to  safeguard  it  against  all  the  failings 
of  jealousy  and  ambition. 

[Quincy  (111.)  Herald] 

The  clarified  judgment  of  history  will  be  that  the  world 
has  been  made  better  and  purer  by  the  ministrations  and 
example  of  the  sweet-faced  woman  who  was  the  Founder 
of  the  Christian  Science  church.  Those  who  scoff  at  some 
of  her  tenets  must  admit  that  her  teachings  and  writings 
have  made  for  higher  and  better  living — for  clean  man- 
hood and  womanhood  and  for  a  better  moral,  mental,  and 
physical  status  of  humanity.  She  has  been  much  misunder- 
stood, sometimes  maligned,  but  was  always  kindly,  patient, 
and  pure.  Those  who  refuse  to  accept  her  doctrines  can- 
not but  admit  the  beauty  and  stateliness  of  the  language 
in  which  they  are  clothed.  Purely  for  the  wholesome  se- 
renity of  its  diction,  and  the  immaculate  virtue  of  its  thought, 
her  life-work,  Science  and  Health,  will  have  an  eternal  place 
in  English  literature. 

[Cleveland  (O.)  Press] 

Mrs.  Eddy  triumphed  over  death  long  before  she  passed 
away.  Any  person  who  gives  to  the  world  enduring  good 
triumphs  over  death.  Whatever  objection  any  one  can 
present  to  some  of  the  particular  or  peculiar  claims  of 
Christian  Science,  it  is  truth  that  Mrs.  Eddy  turned  the 
thought  and  lives  of  thousands  of  people  toward  the  divine 
sunshine,  taught  thousands  to  turn  from  the  gloom  of 
past  errors,  to  close  the  door  upon  remorse,  regret,  disap- 
pointment, and  failure,  and  look  upon  God  as  all  good,  all 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  79 

merciful,  all  Love.  To  do  such  is  surely  to  triumph  over 
death,  even  before  the  immaterial  material  body  goes  to 
the  tomb. 

[Washington  (D.  C.)  Herald] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  unquestionably  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  women  of  her  time.  She  must  have  pos- 
sessed unusual  qualities  to  inspire  so  large  a  body  of  fol- 
lowers as  she  controlled;  she  must  have  had  a  remarkable 
mind  in  order  to  formulate  a  new  doctrine  which  should 
prove  sufficiently  powerful  to  cause  Christian  Science 
churches  to  be  erected  in  practically  every  city  in  the  United 
States.  But  we  are  quite  sure  that  the  great  secret  of 
Mrs.  Eddy's  success  lay  in  the  sanity  and  reasonableness  of 
the  doctrines  she  promulgated. 

[World's  Crisis,  Boston,  Mass.] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  at  her  home  near  Boston 
was  a  recent  event  attracting  wide-spread  attention.  As 
head  of  the  Christian  Science  church,  the  latter  part  of  her 
career  has  identified  her  with  what  must  be  considered,  in 
many  respects,  the  most  remarkable  religious  movement  of 
modern  times.  However  much  criticism  she  may  have 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  those  not  favorable  to  her  system, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of 
her  followers. 

[Herald,  City  of  Mexico,  Mex.] 

The  general  tone  of  the  press  in  noticing  the  passing  on 
of  Mrs.  Eddy  is  kindly  and  sympathetic.  Many  Jews  have 
in  the  last  few  years  become  Christian  Scientists,  and  the 
American  Israelite,  in  noting  the  fact,  praises  Mrs.  Eddy's 
tolerance  toward  non-believers  in  her  teachings. 

[Worcester  (Mass.)  Telegram] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  leaves  the  largest  personal  fol- 
lowing of  any  woman  in  American  history,  and  perhaps  in 
the  world  history.  She  has  been  for  many  years  a  conspicu- 
ous figure  in  New  England  life,  and  to-day  is  the  most 
illustrious  dead  awaiting  the  formalities  of  burial,  in  all  the 


80  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

world  of  civilization.  It  is  the  claim  of  her  followers  in 
the  distinct  creed  she  established  that  she  is  revered  by 
more  human  beings  than  any  other  known  to  modern  life, 
and  that  her  teachings  and  example  have  raised  them  to 
higher  and  more  intelligent  thought  and  method  of  living. 
It  has  never  been  disputed  that  her  students  have  been 
enlisted  from  among  the  best  products  of  civilization,  and  it 
is  not  at  all  improbable  that  they  have  improved  by  the 
tendency  to  concentrate  their  thoughts  upon  the  new  ideals. 
They  have  thus  formed  for  themselves  a  new  environment, 
and  they  have  not  been  ungenerous  in  shedding  their  light 
among  the  people  with  whom  they  have  come  in  contact  in 
the  activities  of  the  world. 

With  all  its  faults  as  often  mentioned  in  human  converse 
and  fought  in  various  ways  by  opponents,  it  is  to  the  credit 
of  Christian  Science  that  it  has  never  used  fear  of  a  deity 
as  one  of  its  supporting  pillars  before  the  public.  That  at 
least  gives  it  a  high  standing  among  the  doctrines  that  have 
been  spread  before  mankind  in  many  ages,  and  in  that  one 
respect  the  highest.  It  may  be  said  to  have  banished  that 
condition  of  the  mind  from  millions,  and  even  with  that 
accomplishment  it  has  benefited  the  world.  It  may  be  the 
highest  tribute  that  mankind  can  offer  to  the  memory  of 
one  woman  that  she  banished  fear  from  their  religions. 

But  the  work  that  has  been  done  among  many  people  by 
the  Christian  Science  organization  is  greater  even  than  that. 
It  has  builded  without  fighting  to  destroy  the  good  effects 
of  other  building.  Nowhere  has  this  Science  taught  or 
practiced  war,  nowhere  upheld  war  or  any  other  form  of 
slaughter  of  human  life  or  character.  Peace  for  all  nations 
and  conditions  of  people,  and  without  sacrifice  of  principle 
or  inherent  right,  is  one  of  the  tenets  of  the  Science  that 
formed  the  foundation  for  the  organization,  and  it  has  thus 
far  operated  without  making  a  class  or  pitting  one  existing 
class  against  another. 

Its  growth  as  a  church,  as  a  public  order  element,  is  note- 
worthy, and  its  growth  as  a  beautifier  of  the  living  places 
of  men  is  no  less  to  its  credit.    And  always  as  an  organiza- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  81 

tion  it  holds  the  strongest  place,  without  having  called  forth 
public  criticism  because  of  methods  of  oppression  in  the 
monopoly  of  any  article  the  people  needed  as  an  established 
necessity.  It  has  presented  a  clean  slate  and  a  clean  char- 
acter, personal  as  well  as  in  organization.  It  is  an  out- 
growth of  modern  development,  with  less  of  the  harking 
back  to  the  dark  ages  than  some  others,  and  much  if  not 
all  of  that  must  be  said  to  have  been  the  result  of  mental 
efforts  of  Mrs.  Eddy.  Her  long  life  was  lived  for  a  greater 
purpose  than  she  has  been  given  credit  for  in  this  mate- 
rialistic age. 

[Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican] 

Judged  by  her  achievement,  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was 
one  of  the  extraordinary  figures  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  is  difficult  to  present  any  estimate  of  her  career  without 
inviting  controversy,  and  now  that  she  is  dead  controversy 
will  flame  up  again,  as  her  work  is  freshly  studied.  For 
it  is  certain  that  her  life  was  a  marvel.  It  was  a  career 
from  which  every  one  may  draw  immense  inspiration,  fur- 
thermore. It  is  the  inspiration  that  must  come  from  the 
spectacle  of  astonishing  achievement  brought  about  by  a 
woman  whose  whole  life  up  to  the  age  of  fifty  had  been 
an  utter  failure,  as  the  world  viewed  it  and  as  many  of  her 
most  intimate  acquaintances  estimated  it.  One  may  search 
history  from  the  beginning  and  have  difficulty  in  matching 
Mrs.  Eddy's  performance,  between  the  ages  of  fifty  and 
eighty,  in  making  a  million  people  accept  her  at  her  own 
valuation.  No  one  can  read  the  story  of  her  career  and 
say  that  a  life  which  seems  the  dreariest  of  futilities  in 
middle  age  may  not  contain  the  possibilities  of  large  achieve- 
ment in  the  remaining  years.  For  the  part  played  by  cir- 
cumstances in  affording  the  requisite  opportunity  for  the 
development  of  a  remarkable  personality  was  never  more 
vividly  shown  than  in  this  woman's  late  unfolding  as  the 
Leader  of  what  is  known  as  Christian  Science. 

Mrs.  Eddy  must  be  credited  also  with  having  done  good. 
Whether  or  not  the  church  she  founded  long  survives  her 
death,  whether  or  not  her  system  of  healing  the  sick  re- 


82  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

tains  any  considerable  number  of  adherents,  it  must  be 
said  that  she  served  a  useful  purpose  in  organizing  an 
effective  protest  against  the  defective  methods  of  the  old 
schools  of  medicine  and  in  forcing  upon  the  attention  of 
men  of  science  as  well  as  upon  the  multitude  that  careful 
consideration  which  the  purely  psychic  element  in  disease 
so  much  deserves. 

The  criticism  of  Mrs.  Eddy  and  of  Christian  Science, 
which  is  her  monument,  may  be  found  in  many  books.  At 
this  time  it  is  proper  to  recognize  the  dimensions  of  her 
practical  achievement  and  the  claims  which  her  remarkably 
complex  and  subtle  yet  most  forceful  personality  have  upon 
the  world's  attention  and  regard. 

[Milwaukee  (Wis.)  Free  Press] 

Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  fate  of  Christian  Science, 
whether  it  continues  to  wax  in  power  and  spiritual  fruitage 
or  eventually  becomes  absorbed  or  superseded  in  the  re- 
ligious evolution  of  mankind,  Mrs.  Eddy  is  assured  of  a 
permanent  niche  in  that  great  gallery  of  seers  and  inter- 
preters who  have  made  clear  the  way  of  God  to  man.  The 
most  vital  history  of  the  human  race  is  ever  its  religious 
history,  and  no  chronicles  of  the  epoch-making  evolution 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  conception  and  attitude  of  man 
toward  the  divinity,  during  the  past  three  decades,  can  pos- 
sibly leave  out  of  account  the  teachings  and  the  ministry 
of  Mrs.  Eddy. 

One  need  not  be  a  believer  in  Christian  Science,  one  need 
not  even  be  an  admirer  of  its  Founder,  to  appreciate  this 
and  to  acknowledge  this.  For,  remarkable  as  has  been  the 
achievement  of  this  remarkable  woman  in  giving  renewed 
and  beneficent  potency  to  an  ancient  revelation,  remarkable 
as  has  been  her  administration  in  building  up  a  powerful 
church,  both  materially  and  spiritually,  her  achievement 
does  not  stop  there.  The  influence  of  Christian  Science 
has  extended  far  beyond  the  confines  of  its  church  or  the 
bounds  of  its  adherents;  it  has  in  its  essential  spirit  proved 
a  leavening  force  both  in  other  churches  and  among  masses 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  83 

who  confess  to  no  faith  or  creed.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  ready 
with  her  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  when  the  desire 
for  a  more  immanent  and  spiritual  conception  of  the  Chris- 
tian God  began  to  stir  the  heart  and  mind  of  America,  and 
in  the  great  liberating,  spiritualizing  movement  in  religious 
thought  that  grew  out  of  this,  Christian  Science  has  played 
its  unquestioned  part.  It  profited  from  this  movement,  to 
be  sure,  but  in  turn  it  also  proved  a  source  of  sustenance. 

The  man  or  woman  who  has  been  healed  in  body  or  soul 
through  Christian  Science  will  naturally  cherish  a  peculiar 
devotion  for  the  author  of  this  faith  and  its  practice.  While 
the  significance  and  beauty  of  this  phase  of  Mrs.  Eddy's 
work  need  not  be  underestimated,  the  chances  are  that  with 
the  larger  understanding  of  psychic  healing  which  is  rapidly 
coming  to  pass,  the  author  of  Science  and  Health  will  be 
celebrated  less  because  of  the  therapeutic  element  in  her 
teachings  than  for  their  aid  in  bringing  about  a  closer,  more 
spiritual,  and  efficacious  communion  between  man  and  his 
Maker. 

[New  Haven  (Conn.)  Journal-Courier] 

There  will  be  three  judgments  entered  with  regard  to 
the  character  and  life  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of 
the  Christian  Science  church.  By  her  large  following  she 
will  be  worshiped  as  a  saint.  By  another  large  group  of 
open-minded  men  and  women  she  will  be  viewed  as  an 
extraordinary  person,  who  possessed  great  spiritual  insight 
and  executive  genius.  By  a  smaller  and  more  intolerant 
group,  she  will  be  condemned. 

It  is  of  little  interest  to  us  what  the  attitude  of  this  third 
class  is  or  may  be.  We  have  found  it  difficult  to  accept  at 
its  full  face  value  the  leadership  of  this  remarkable  woman. 
We  have  found  it  easy  to  accept  her  in  the  light  the  second 
group  has  accepted  her.  She  has  built  up  a  church  which 
has  shown  marvelous  growth,  and  she  has  welcomed  into 
it  thousands  of  people  of  the  highest  personal  character 
and  spiritual  earnestness.  Others  in  this  free  country  are 
at  liberty  to  make  what  use  they  like  of  the  activities  and 
convictions  of  their  neighbors  as  they  relate  to  Christian 


84  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

professions.  The  mysteries  of  life,  the  magic  of  the  begin- 
ning and  the  pall  of  its  close,  have  not  so  revealed  them- 
selves to  our  eyes  that  they  appear  easy  of  analysis  when 
applied  to  any  given  religious  faith.  They  are  rather  so 
profound  in  their  elusiveness  that  that  form  of  belief  which 
brings  peace  of  mind  and  contentment  of  soul  to  its  fol- 
lowers, compels  our  respectful  consideration,  at  least,  by 
whatever  title  it  is  known. 

[Battle  Creek  (Mich.)  Daily  Moon] 

If  history  makes  clear  any  one  fact,  it  is  that  contem- 
poraneous judgments  often  are  inaccurate.  The  perspective 
of  time  is  necessary  to  a  calm  analysis  of  the  influences 
which  shape  thought.  Posterity  more  than  once  has  re- 
jected those  acclaimed  prophets  in  a  bygone  day,  and 
crowned  those  who  were  overlooked  by  their  fellows.  The 
axiom  will  hold  good  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy, 
Discoverer  and  Founder  of  Christian  Science.  The  world 
is  too  close  to  her  life  and  her  work  to  give  an  unbiased 
decision  as  to  her  significance.  On  the  one  hand  are  her 
thousands  of  followers,  scattered  in  almost  every  civilized 
land,  who  believe  she  has  given  to  the  world  a  real  message 
of  peace,  hope,  and  ultimate  freedom  from  the  ills  to  which 
flesh  so  long  has  been  heir.  On  the  other  hand  are  her  many 
critics,  some  bitter,  some  mild,  but  all  denying  her  doctrines. 

The  storm  of  controversy  which  has  raged  about  Mrs. 
Eddy  personally  and  as  the  Leader  of  a  faith,  is  not  likely 
to  cease  at  her  death.  It  is  predicted  on  one  side  that  the 
church  which  she  has  founded  will  topple  and  fall  without 
the  cohesive  influence  of  her  captaincy,  and,  on  the  other, 
that  she  put  it  on  its  feet  long  ago  and  that  it  will  move 
forward  on  its  own  momentum.  Whatever  the  future  has 
to  tell  of  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  teaching,  and  aside  from  what- 
ever opinion  one  may  have  as  to  the  tenets  she  preached,  it 
is  certain  that  she  has  been  a  powerful  factor  in  current 
thought.  The  growth  of  Christian  Science  as  the  sincere 
belief  of  men  and  women  of  varied  classes,  the  hundreds  of 
magnificent  churches  which  have  been  reared  by  her  dis- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  85 

ciples,  and,  most  of  all,  the  enormous  circulation  of  her 
book,  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures," 
proves  this. 

If  any  one  influence  which  she  exerted  should  be  remem- 
bered, it  is  that  she  taught  optimism.  Christian  Scientists 
are  sunny,  hopeful,  cheerful.  The  Leader  taught  that 
brooding  on  the  ills  of  life  is  a  sin,  and  this  wholesome 
doctrine  has  remade  chronic  grumblers  and  fretful  invalids, 
loaded  under  a  burden  of  imaginary  ills,  into  bright,  active, 
and  helpful  men  and  women. 

[Evening  Journal,  Wilmington,  Del.] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  may  be  regarded  without  exag- 
geration as  the  most  remarkable  woman  of  her  time.  Her 
hold  upon  her  followers  was  indeed  wonderful.  In  a  day 
when  all  questions  of  a  religious  nature  are  subjected  to  the 
most  critical  tests,  when  some  boast  that  the  statements  and 
influences  of  men  of  regular  science  have  great  weight  and 
tend  to  demolish  religious  theories  and  principles  of  the 
past,  Mrs.  Eddy  founded  a  religious  denomination  which 
has  grown  and  prospered  in  a  very  remarkable  manner. 
Her  adherents  have  been  and  are  of  a  type  of  high  intelli- 
gence. She  has  never  been  strong  among  what  may  be 
called  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  in  this  Christian  Science 
differs  from  any  of  the  other  religious  sects  which  have 
been  founded  but  which  have  gained  their  first  adherents 
among  what  are  termed  the  more  lowly.  Indeed  Christian- 
ity itself  had  such  a  beginning,  as  the  disciples,  nearly  all 
of  them,  were  not  from  the  wealthy  or  the  aristocratic  or 
the  ruling  classes. 

One  thing  evident  about  the  true  Christian  Scientists, 
which  shows  the  powerful  and  beneficial  influence  that  Mrs. 
Eddy  has  exerted  in  the  world,  is  that  they  are  firm  in  the 
faith,  energetic  and  relentless  in  upholding  it,  and  to  all 
outward  appearances  in  their  lives  are  most  happy.  The 
religion  founded  by  Mrs.  Eddy  has  brought  peace  to  many 
a  distressed  soul.  After  all,  what  higher  benefit  could  it 
confer? 


86  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

[Commercial  News,  Danville,  111.] 

The  passing  of  Mrs.  Eddy  removes  from  the  world  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  modern  times.  She  was 
the  Leader  of  a  religious  movement  which  has  greatly  im- 
pressed the  world,  and  which  attracted  more  than  a  million 
followers  to  her.  For  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  she 
was  the  Leader  of  the  movement  which  revolutionized  her  fol- 
lowers, their  thoughts,  and  their  methods  of  living.  She  be- 
lieved in  healing  and  saving  power  by  divine  right.  She 
never  preached  that  there  is  no  material  death,  although  she 
has  predicted  the  ultimate  conquest  of  death  in  time  to 
come.  There  need  be  no  difficulty  in  the  minds  of  Christian 
Scientists  in  reconciling  the  physical  fact  of  her  death  with 
their  disbelief  in  death  itself. 

Her  work  will  continue.  Her  church  will  continue  to 
live  of  its  own  momentum.  She  placed  it  on  such  an  endur- 
ing basis  that  it  can  guide  itself.  She  can  have  no  successor, 
because  no  one  can  do  the  work  she  has  done.  Mrs.  Eddy 
was  a  great  leader.  When  there  was  dissension  in  her 
church,  she  proved  what  she  was  capable  of  by  sweeping 
away  all  opposition.  Her  followers  had  faith  in  her  which 
was  almost  sublime.  When  she  has  been  dead  a  century 
men  and  women  will  better  understand  her  work  and  her 
worth  than  they  do  at  the  present  time.  Her  death  removes 
one  of  the  greatest  figures  of  our  day. 

[Rich  Hill  (Mo.)  Daily  Review] 

By  the  "passing  on"  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  there  will 
be  profound  sorrow  in  the  hearts  of  many  thousands  of 
good  people  on  earth,  but  no  mourning  by  her  immediate 
followers,  or  at  least  no  outward  sign  thereof.  Whatever 
the  opinion  of  those  who  could  not  accept  Mrs.  Eddy's 
theories  either  in  a  religious  or  rational  sense,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  as  the  Discoverer  and  Founder  of  Christian 
Science,  aside  from  all  the  rest  of  her  life-work,  she  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  and  powerful  women  of  the  age. 

To  have  possessed  the  will-power  and  ability  to  establish 
a  cult  or  religion  in  a  single  generation  that  could  beget 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  87 

the  following  of  intelligent  and  cultured  people  which 
Christian  Science  has,  not  only  in  this  country  but  in  other 
lands,  is  a  remarkable  thing  in  itself,  and  in  other  ages 
would  have  been  regarded  as  almost  superhuman.  Yet  this 
achievement  has  been  wrought  by  this  woman  from  a  very 
humble  beginning,  and  to-day  thousands  of  churches  and 
schools  have  been  established  to  teach  and  perpetuate  this 
faith — and  among  them  some  of  the  finest  religious  edifices 
in  the  land — and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  followers,  em- 
bracing some  of  the  best  people  morally,  and  some  of  the 
wealthiest  citizens,  are  enlisted  in  the  work  begun  by 
Mrs.  Eddy. 

The  foundation  upon  which  Mrs.  Eddy  based  her  struc- 
ture, viz.,  that  mind  predominates  matter,  has  been  recog- 
nized among  the  philosophers  of  the  past  ages;  but  it  was 
left  to  her  to  systematize  this  vague  truth  and  to  develop 
and  expand  it,  and  to  extend  it  far  beyond  any  hitherto 
recognized  limit.  How  well  she  has  succeeded  must  be 
judged  by  the  number,  the  character,  and  the  fidelity  of  her 
followers.  Whether  her  system  has  been  fully  perfected, 
whether  there  must  be  additions  thereto  or  modifications 
thereof,  still  remains  to  be  seen.  Whether  her  theories  ap- 
peal to  us  who  are  not  among  her  votaries,  or  however 
irrational  they  may  seem  to  us,  Mrs.  Eddy  has  made  a 
wonderful  demonstration  in  the  last  few  decades  of  her 
lifetime,  and  all  must  accredit  her  with  a  wonderful  force 
and  power. 

[St.  Louis  (Mo.)  Times] 

It  will  be  conceded  very  widely  that  with  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Eddy  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  age 
has  passed  away.  A  woman  with  the  will  and  power  to 
establish,  in  the  period  of  a  few  decades,  a  religion,  or  cult, 
and  place  it  upon  an  apparently  unshakable  foundation, 
must  possess  more  than  ordinary  powers.  The  growth  of  the 
Christian  Science  movement,  the  establishment  of  churches 
in  magnificent  buildings,  and  the  organization  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands   of  people   in  a   faith   which  has   be- 


88  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

come  world-wide — this  has  been  one  of  the  extraordinary 
phenomena  of  the  present  and  the  past  centuries. 

Those  of  materialistic  tendencies,  and  those  who  adhere 
to  the  simpler  faiths,  may  withhold  approval  of  what  this 
woman  achieved.  But  just  as  certainly  there  will  be  many 
thousands  who  will  regard  her  as  a  genuine  benefactor — 
a  real  healer. 

[Athens  (O.)  Daily  Messenger] 

Whatever  one's  theory  about  Christian  Science,  the  ca- 
reer of  Mrs.  Eddy,  who  recently  passed  out  in  her  ninetieth 
year,  is  without  a  parallel.  At  forty  years  of  age,  a  con- 
firmed invalid,  she  somehow  came  into  possession  of  a 
power  that  made  her  into  a  healthy  woman,  and  she  so 
analyzed  and  systematized  that  power  and  set  it  forth  in 
a  wonderfully  able  book  of  philosophy  on  Christianity,  that 
others  are  able  to  get  her  thought  and  use  it  for  a  broader 
life  of  health  and  happiness  and  freedom  from  dogmatism 
and  creed,  jealousies  and  hate.  Her  philosophy  of  life  has 
been  adopted  by  over  a  million  followers  in  the  civilized 
world,  and  Christian  Science  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  rap- 
idly growing  Christian  organizations  in  the  world. 

The  ideas  of  Christian  Science  are  old,  dating  back  be- 
fore Christ,  and  the  Founder  maintained  that  the  power  of 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  to  heal  the  sick  is  a  living  and  uni- 
versal power,  everlasting  and  eternal,  but  for  centuries  lost 
to  Christians.  It  remained  for  Mrs.  Eddy  to  rediscover  this 
power  and  reduce  it  to  what  she  and  her  followers  call  a 
Science, — that  is,  a  rational  and  demonstrable  proposition. 

[Albert  Lea  (Minn.)  Tribune] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Christian 
Science  Leader,  removes  from  our  midst  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  figures  of  late  years.  A  woman  said  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  the  most  lovable  qualities,  she  exercised  a  tre- 
mendous influence  upon  the  lives  of  thousands  of  people, 
not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 
Whether  we  agree  with  her  and  accept  her  teachings  or  not, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  89 

we  must  certainly  admire  those  qualities  about  her  which 
brought  her  to  the  forefront  among  the  women  and  men 
of  the  day,  and  made  her  one  of  the  leading  persons  of 
the  world. 

[La  Crosse  (Wis.)  Tribune} 

It  would  be  unwise  for  one  not  thoroughly  conversant 
with  Christian  Science  to  attempt  discourse  upon  the  life- 
work  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  Criticism  of  her  creed  has 
been  bitter  in  some  quarters,  and  she  has  been  frequently 
denounced  as  an  impostor.  But  no  one  now  attempts  to 
deny  that  she  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  re- 
markable women  in  history.  Her  works  are  a  monument 
to  these  things.  She  achieved  wonderful  success,  and  that 
she  leaves  behind  her  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  fol- 
lowers whose  confidence  is  implicit,  is  a  fact  calculated  to 
rebuke  sweeping  accusations  against  her. 

[Jerseyman,  Morristown,  N.  J.] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  and  Leader  of  the  cult 
of  Christian  Scientists,  was,  in  some  respects,  the  most 
notable  personage  of  the  century.  Whatever  views  may  be 
held  in  regard  to  this  belief,  it  cannot  be  disputed  that  its 
followers  generally  are  of  the  cultured  class,  and  they  find 
in  it  that  which  gives  serenity  of  mind  and  an  optimistic 
spirit  that  suggests  a  life  in  that  beatific  land  of  the  prophet's 
vision,  the  inhabitant  of  which  shall  not  say,  "I  am  sick." 

[Times,  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico] 

The  Christian  Science  church  has  lost  its  Founder  in  the 
death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy — the  most  powerful  religious 
leader  of  this  age,  and  a  woman  who  reached  that  position 
through  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  Her  appeal  was 
made  primarily  to  the  sick  and  infirm,  and  "Life,  Truth, 
and  Love  are  all  powerful  and  ever  present"  was  her  text. 
Regardless  of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  Christian  Science, 
the  fact  remains  that  it  has  a  large  and  influential  follow- 
ing, that  its  members  are  earnest  and  intelligent  men  and 
women,  and  that  it  has  gained  its  following  by  appeal  to  the 


90  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

reason  rather  than  through  force  and  persecution.  Never 
before  in  history  has  a  woman  founded  so  important  a 
movement. 

[Denver  (Col.)  Post] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  and  Leader  of  the 
Christian  Science  church,  has  gone  to  her  reward.  She 
needs  no  tears,  no  sobs,  no  grief.  Her  spirit  has  earned 
eternal  rest,  and  has  departed  to  claim  its  wage.  This 
woman  stood  behind  a  new  church,  a  new  belief,  a  new 
creed.  By  her  teachings  she  brought  ease  and  quiet  to  many 
a  tired,  worn-out  body,  contentment  to  many  a  weary  heart, 
and  peace  to  many  a  soul  in  distress.  If  that  be  all  she 
ever  did,  then  her  work  was  well  done;  but  there  was 
more,  oh,  so  much  more!  She  started  out  alone.  She  gath- 
ered around  her  a  little  circle.  They  believed — with  her. 
The  enthusiasm  spread,  until  finally  thousands — millions — 
were  ready  to  embrace  the  teaching  that  brought  joy  and 
happiness,  and  nothing  else. 

Mrs.  Eddy  raised  up  an  institution — and  supported  it — 
which  promulgates  the  beautiful  thought  that  every  human 
being  is  graven  in  the  image  of  its  God,  and  that  there  is 
no  evil  in  the  world  except  that  which  has  grown  into  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  the  earth.  Cast  out  that  evil — ac- 
cording to  her — and  nothing  but  bliss  remains.  Take  away 
the  bickerings  and  revilings  which  have  been  the  Christian 
Scientist's  lot;  forget  the  attacks  to  which  he  has  been 
subjected,  and  you  still  have  left  a  Principle  that  has  aided 
a  world  to  higher  and  better  things.  It  teaches  of  a  glorious 
world  to  come,  where  tired  souls  will  find  a  safe  haven.  It 
tells  of  a  hereafter  where  spirits  worn  from  the  world's 
strife  will  find  eternal  happiness.  It  depicts  another  exist- 
ence that  we  should  all  be  glad  to  go  to.  It  whispers  of 
no  death  fear;  it  voices  no  sick-bed  alarm;  it  dismisses 
belief  in  bodily  ailments;  it  cries  that  the  world  is  good, 
that  all  is  beautiful,  that  there  is  no  wrong  or  evil  except 
that  which  we  ourselves  create.  Without  argument,  without 
defense,  taken  merely  as  an  abstract  proposition,  the  thought 
is  exquisite.    It  has  brought  the  smile  to  many  a  worn  face, 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  91 

ease  to  many  a  body  in  pain,  and  contentment  to  many  a 
sore-tried  heart. 

The  church  this  woman  reared  will  live  on.  Others  will 
rise  up  to  take  her  place.  Many  will  continue  the  work 
which  one  had  done  before.  But,  remember,  just  as  she 
taught  there  should  be  no  grief  in  the  world,  she  wants 
none  now  that  she  is  gone.  It  came  her  time  to  go,  and  she 
went  with  the  knowledge  she  was  but  journeying  to  the 
things  she  had  laid  up  for  herself  in  another  world.  If 
she  could  speak  to-day,  she  would  say  to  all  her  followers: 
"Let  there  be  no  heartaches." 

[Herald-Democrat,  Leadville,  Col.] 

It  is  not  every  generation  that  is  permitted  to  witness  the 
passing  of  the  founder  of  a  religion,  nor  is  it  every  genera- 
tion that  produces  such  a  unique  character.  In  fact,  the 
history  of  the  world  furnishes  comparatively  few  individ- 
uals with  the  peculiar  qualifications  needed  to  lead  a  great 
movement  of  a  spiritual  character,  and  away  from  the  or- 
thodox standards  of  the  period  in  which  they  lived. 

Mrs.  Eddy  will  probably  stand  alone  in  some  respects. 
There  have  been  great  women  teachers  and  leaders,  women 
notable  in  every  walk  of  life,  but  no  woman  has  ever  before 
actually  founded  and  established  a  powerful  religious  sect, 
and  has  so  guided  and  directed  its  energies  that  its  adher- 
ents are  now  numbered  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  and 
its  material  wealth  counted  by  the  millions,  and  which  is 
recognized  by  students  of  religious  phenomena  as  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  manifestations  of  the  kind  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

Mrs.  Eddy  makes  the  Bible  the  basis  of  her  teachings. 
Herself  an  educated  woman  and  a  student  of  what  science 
calls  ultimate  problems,  or  as  it  is  termed  metaphysics,  she 
evolved  that  remarkable  combination,  the  uniting  of  a  diffi- 
cult metaphysical  abstraction,  namely,  the  non-existence  of 
matter  and  the  reality  of  mind,  with  deep  religious  feeling. 
The  philosophers  had  been  disputing  for  centuries  about 
mind  and  matter,  good  and  evil,  pain  and  pleasure.     Mrs. 


92  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

Eddy  boldly  seized  on  a  single  proposition — God  is  all 
good,  therefore  there  can  be  no  evil,  hence  the  things  called 
evil  are  figments  and  imaginings  of  mortal  mind — and  a 
new  religion  appeared. 

It  appealed  to  thousands  in  the  midst  of  the  American 
civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century,  because  it  offered  to 
accomplish  a  definite  purpose  in  this  world,  namely,  the 
healing  of  disease.  It  won  its  converts,  as  all  religions 
have  won  theirs,  by  demonstrations  of  its  ability  to  cure, 
for  no  one  can  deny  the  fact  that  there  have  been  cures 
accomplished. 

[Lebanon  (O.)  Western  Star] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  organizer  of  the  Christian 
Science  church,  is  dead,  or — as  the  adherents  of  that  faith 
more  beautifully  say — has  passed  from  among  us.  In  leav- 
ing this  world,  she  leaves  it  the  richer  because  of  her  life 
and  her  teachings. 

We  are  not  a  member  of  that  church,  but  for  it  we  have 
words  of  commendation,  just  as  we  have  for  all  branches 
of  the  church  and  all  organizations,  under  whatever  title 
they  are  living,  that  seek  to  alleviate  pain  and  sorrow, 
whether  physical,  mental,  or  spiritual,  and  thus  make  this 
old  world  better.  It  is  our  pleasure  to  know  many  members 
of  the  Christian  Science  church,  and  it  is  also  a  great  pleas- 
ure to  say  that — judged  by  the  standards  by  which  the 
world  judges  Christians — every  one  of  them  is  leading  a 
more  worthy  life  than  was  led  before  accepting  that  belief. 
This  might  have  been  true  had  they  united  with  any  other 
church — we  are  not  seeking  an  argument,  simply  stating 
a  fact. 

[Current  Literature] 

The  column  on  column  of  news  despatches  and  editorial 
comment  evoked  by  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the 
Founder  of  Christian  Science,  may  be  said  to  reveal  an  im- 
portant change  in  the  psychology  of  this  country.  America, 
it  is  clear,  is  beginning  to  take  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  doctrines 
seriously.  Where  in  past  years  bitter  intolerance  and  a  dis- 
position to  regard  her  as  a  charlatan  have  existed,  the  pre- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  93 

vailing  spirit  is  now  one  of  interested  inquiry.  "Whatever 
the  degree  of  faith  or  unfaith  with  which  the  individual 
may  look  upon  what  she  taught  and  what  was  accomplished 
by  or  through  her  teachings,"  says  the  Chicago  Tribune, 
in  a  mood  that  is  almost  universal,  she  was  "one  of  the  most 
remarkable  women  of  her  time."  The  New  York  World 
goes  farther  in  characterizing  her  as  "perhaps  the  most  ex- 
traordinary woman  of  her  century." 

[Seattle  (Wash.)  Daily  Times] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy  is  dead — and  in  her  death  one  of 
the  most  interesting  characters  of  modern  times  has  passed 
away.  Even  an  "unbeliever"  must  pay  tribute  to  the  force 
and  influence  of  this  wonderful  woman.  There  are  those 
who  scoff  at  her  death — claiming  that  she  taught  the  doc- 
trine that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  death;  but  it  will  be 
remembered  that  there  have  been  those  in  all  times  who 
have  scoffed  at  those  who  could  not  verify  in  realism  the 
theories  of  an  ideal.  This  is  not  intended  as  a  discussion  of 
Christian  Science  in  any  of  its  phases.  We  are  treating 
of  the  woman  herself,  rather  than  of  anything  which  she 
taught  or  sought  to  teach. 

Christian  Science  to-day  is  known  all  over  the  world, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  this  fact  is  due  almost  entirely 
to  the  work  of  this  wonderful  woman.  There  are  at  least 
only  two  or  three  persons  in  a  century  of  the  history  of  the 
world  who  have  developed  such  a  following  as  this  aged 
woman  commanded.  Most  women,  in  similar  conditions, 
would  have  arrogated  to  themselves  a  sort  of  regal  author- 
ity and  regal  splendor.  But  this  woman  lived  simply  and 
quietly — not  in  poverty — not  in  luxury — but  in  comfort. 
Her  pleasures  were  few  and  her  wants — not  many.  Offered 
almost  idolatry  by  some  of  her  followers,  she  accepted  little 
in  the  way  of  homage,  and  what  she  did  accept  she  accepted 
rather  as  a  vindication  of  her  teachings  than  as  a  tribute 
to  her  personality.  And  yet  it  will  be  as  a  "personality" 
that  at  least  the  "unbelieving"  world  will  remember  her  at 
the  present.    She  was  a  wonderful  woman! 


94  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

[Lima  (O.)  Times-Democrat] 

Whatever  may  have  been  said  in  opposition  to  the  teach- 
ings of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  by  authorities  in  other 
religious  denominations,  it  must  be  admitted  that  her  fol- 
lowers are  the  cheeriest  lot  of  optimists,  as  a  whole,  there 
are  in  the  world  to-day.  They  look  upon  the  bright  side  of 
everything,  and  they  see  and  know  no  evil.  There  is  no 
room  in  them  or  among  them  for  the  man  or  woman  who 
thinks  evil.  For  that,  if  for  nothing  else,  the  Founder  of 
The  Mother  Church  should  be  and  will  be  called  blessed. 
It  isn't  a  bad  sort  of  a  religion  that,  which  makes  people 
look  on  the  bright  side  always,  and  forever  and  continuously 
instils  the  doctrine  of  love. 

There  is  something  more  than  ordinary  in  a  life  that  by 
example  and  teaching  has  remade  many  chronic  grumblers 
and  fretful  invalids  into  bright,  active,  and  helpful  men  and 
women.  There  is  something  in  a  life  which,  in  the  face  of 
a  constant  storm  of  controversy,  such  as  has  raged  about 
Mrs.  Eddy,  can  bring  to  it  growing  thousands  of  devotees 
of  all  classes,  each  with  sincere  belief  in  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tian Science.  There  is  some  wonderful  force  behind  a  life 
that  can  cause  the  building  of  hundreds  of  magnificent  places 
for  worship. 

At  this  near  view  of  the  work  of  Mrs.  Eddy  it  is  certain 
she  has  given  to  thousands  upon  thousands  a  message  of 
peace,  hope,  and  ultimate  freedom  from  the  ills  that  have 
been  their  lot.  What  the  future  judgment  may  be,  only 
the  perspective  of  time  as  a  calm  analyst  of  the  influences 
which  shape  thought  can  determine.  Anyhow,  the  world 
is  better,  much  better,  that  Mrs.  Eddy  lived. 

[Lowell  (Mass.)  Courier  Citizen] 

The  death — for  let  us  speak  as  the  world's  people  do — 
of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  head  of  the  Christian  Science 
church  and  Leader  of  that  sect,  will  receive  wide  notice  in 
due  proportion  to  the  importance  of  the  position  of  this 
remarkable  woman  in  the  world  of  affairs.    Of  all  the  vari- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  95 

ants  on  the  theme  of  the  Christian  religion,  hers  is  the  only 
one  of  very  recent  years  which  has  attained  to  world-wide 
magnitude.  Differing  from  other  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians in  its  attitude  toward  the  visitations  of  disease  and 
frequently  misunderstood  even  there,  it  has  achieved  an 
uncommon  degree  of  attention.  Judged  by  the  purely 
pragmatic  theory,  it  must  be  acknowledged  to  have  made 
its  way  and  to  have  assured  its  position,  at  least  for  the 
present  generation.  That  which,  in  its  day,  actually  gives 
to  its  adherents  comfort  and  joy  in  this  world  and  a  hope 
of  the  life  everlasting  in  the  world  to  come,  is  entitled  on 
those  merits  alone  to  share  in  making  up  the  "true"  religion 
of  mankind.    All  that  helps  has  its  place. 

Whether  one  follows  Mrs.  Eddy's  peculiar  teachings  or 
not  as  they  affect  certain  details  of  her  faith,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  she  set  before  men  and  women  of  the  ma- 
terialistic nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  a  system  of 
belief  that  has  afforded  to  many  hundred  thousand  much 
practical  comfort  and  hope.  Whether  or  not  the  practices 
of  Christian  Science,  in  the  healing  of  the  thousand  natural 
shocks  the  flesh  is  heir  to,  or  its  maintenance  of  a  belief 
as  to  the  non-existence  of  pain  and  suffering  for  one  in 
whom  a  proper  frame  of  mind  is  induced  by  faith,  are 
justifiable  on  the  basis  of  actual  science,  the  fact  must  re- 
main undisputed  that  for  such  as  do  believe  in  them  there 
has  been  a  remarkable  force. 

[Tuscaloosa  (Ala.)  News] 

The  passing  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  from 
the  world  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  last 
and  present  century,  if  not  of  all  time.  Practically  all  other 
religions  or  sects  of  religions  have  had  at  their  head  men, 
although  women  have  always  played  a  large  part  in  uphold- 
ing them  and  spreading  their  influence.  Mrs.  Eddy  stands 
alone  among  women  as  a  great  religious  teacher. 

Regardless  of  the  sanity  of  the  doctrines  of  Mrs.  Eddy, 
one  cannot  but  acknowledge  the  power  of  mind  and  per- 


96  MARY   BAKER   EDDY 

sonality  that  enabled  her  to  build  up  a  powerful  church. 
From  a  very  simple  beginning,  Mrs.  Eddy  worked  and 
studied  constantly  until  to-day  her  followers  are  numbered 
by  thousands  and  the  property  which  the  church  owns  is 
valued  at  millions.  But  Mrs.  Eddy  was  not  merely  a  re- 
ligious worker  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  word.  She  not 
only  gave  her  best  thought  to  what  she  considered  the  spir- 
itual and  bodily  needs  of  the  world,  but  also  contributed 
generously  in  money  to  philanthropic  movements  and  to 
civic  improvements.  All  in  all,  the  ninety  years  of  her  life 
were  well  spent,  for  she  no  doubt  brought  both  spiritual 
satisfaction  and  bodily  comfort  into  many  homes. 

[Telegraph,  New  London,  Conn.] 

It  is  not  our  province  to  dwell  upon  the  significance  to 
Christian  Scientists  of  the  passing  of  their  beloved  Leader. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  while  her  departure  is  felt  in  sorrow 
and  regret,  her  followers  have  no  fear  that  the  loss  of  her 
physical  presence  is  to  deprive  them  of  the  fruits  of  her 
life-work,  nor  will  there  be  any  attempt  or  tendency  upon 
their  part  to  deify  her  human  personality,  understanding 
her  teaching  to  forever  condemn  idolatry.  As  a  religious 
leader  Mrs.  Eddy  is  unique.  History  affords  no  parallel. 
The  world  accords  to  her  the  distinction  of  having  been  the 
most  remarkable  woman  of  her  time,  and  for  the  most  part 
is  content  that  the  truth  or  falsity  of  her  teaching  shall  be 
tested  by  time  and  by  its  fruits  rather  than  by  the  rules  of 
logic  or  of  orthodoxy. 

[Times -Record,  Fort  Smith,  Ark.] 

Whatever  one's  views  as  to  Mrs.  Eddy's  teachings,  she 
must  be  accorded  rank  as  one  of  the  greatest  intellectual 
forces  of  the  world's  history.  She  won  this  distinction 
through  the  usual  adverse  influences  which  must  be  over- 
come by  any  one  who  advances  a  thought  out  of  the  beaten, 
well-trodden  path — namely,  ridicule,  slander,  calumny,  and 
a  persecution  no  less  cruel  for  that  it  was  not  physical. 
Beginning  with  a  handful  of  student  followers,  to-day  the 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  97 

principle  which  she  advanced  is  taught  in  approximately  a 
thousand  churches  in  this  and  other  lands,  many  of  them 
of  the  most  costly  and  beautiful  architecture.  To  have 
accomplished  this  in  the  span  of  one  life,  to  see  the  humble 
beginning  and  the  wonderful  spread  of  one's  thought,  is 
something  given  to  few  mortals.  Besides  this,  Mrs.  Eddy 
had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  acceptance  of  her 
thought  and  interpretation  of  the  Word  of  God  had  brought 
the  blessing  of  health  to  many  thousands  sick  in  mind,  heart, 
and  body.  This  reapplication  of  the  divine  injunction  to 
heal  the  sick  through  the  teachings  of  Christ,  although  for 
many  years  it  subjected  her  and  her  followers  to  ridicule 
and  opposition,  has  at  last,  by  its  demonstration  of  truth, 
aroused  the  emulation  of  the  older  established  sects  so  that 
they  are  seriously  considering  the  formal  recognition  of  a 
long  neglected  practice  of  the  early  Christian  faith. 

Way,  New  London,  Conn.] 

Mrs.  Eddy  certainly  was  a  remarkable  woman.  She  had 
the  faculty  of  leading  others,  and  the  success  of  the  move- 
ment that  she  originated  is  the  greatest  monument  that 
could  be  reared  to  her  memory.  The  growth  of  Christian 
Science  has  been  one  of  the  wonders  of  recent  times,  and 
the  fact  that  it  prospered  in  spite  of  the  most  violent  oppo- 
sition and  abuse  shows  that  there  was  something  about  it 
that  appealed  to  the  intelligence  of  its  devotees,  for  it  has 
attracted  men  and  women  of  notable  intellectual  ability. 

[Phoenix  (Ariz.)  Democrat] 

Probably  no  person  during  this  century  was  subjected 
to  a  greater  degree  of  criticism  than  was  this  patient,  silent 
woman.  While  we  are  not  wholly  familiar  with  the  teach- 
ings of  Mrs.  Eddy,  yet  we  realize  that  she  has  accomplished 
a  great  work  in  her  lifetime;  and  to-day  probably  not  an- 
other individual  in  all  this  great  country  will  be  more  sin- 
cerely mourned. 

The  charge  that  Mrs.  Eddy  was  rich — that  her  gifts  were 


98  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

utilized  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth — is  not  well  taken. 
Her  wealth  came  from  a  grateful  people ;  came  from  a  grand 
army  of  men  and  women  who  loved  their  teacher  for  the 
benefits  that  came  to  them  through  her  teachings.  During 
the  last  forty  years  Mrs.  Eddy  has  probably  brought  more 
sunshine  into  the  homes  of  the  poor — instilled  more  hope 
into  the  sinking,  tired  hearts  of  ailing  humanity — than  any 
one  person  in  the  last  century.  Her  life  was  devoted  to 
the  uplifting  of  humanity;  and,  be  her  teachings  as  they 
may,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  intelligent  men  and  women 
will  to-day  drop  a  tear  in  kind  and  loving  remembrance. 

[Portland  (Me.)  Express  and  Advertiser] 

Through  years  of  misunderstanding  and  misrepresenta- 
tion, Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Discoverer  and  Founder  of 
Christian  Science,  went  serenely  and  confidently  on  with 
the  work  she  believed  herself  called  to  do.  She  lived  to  see 
her  faith  adopted  in  many  lands,  to  see  beautiful  and  costly 
church  edifices  erected  in  many  cities,  both  in  America  and 
abroad,  lovingly  dedicated  to  her  and  to  her  teachings.  Only 
forty  years  have  passed  since  she  stood  alone,  the  only  ex- 
ponent of  her  faith  in  all  the  world.  To-day  thousands  rise 
up  and  call  her  blessed,  and  in  the  Wednesday  evening 
meetings  of  the  denomination,  clouds  of  witnesses  testify 
weekly  to  the  power  of  divine  Love,  as  she  taught  of  it,  to 
heal  from  sickness  and  from  sin.  These  followers  constitute 
the  monument  to  her  memory  which  must  most  have  con- 
tributed to  her  joy.  Mrs.  Eddy's  place  in  history  is  secure. 
Her  adherents  are  living  examples  of  a  vital  faith.  The 
church  she  founded  holds  an  important  place  in  the  reli- 
gious world.  The  voice  of  detraction  should  now  be  forever 
silenced. 

[News-Democrat,  Canton,  O.] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  the  Founder  of  Chris- 
tian Science,  has  closed  the  earthly  career  of  one  of  the  most 
marvelous  women  of  modern  times,  if  not  of  all  time.  That 
she  was  a  profoundly  good  woman,  teaching  a  gospel  of 
truth  and  love,  will  be  universally  admitted.    That  the  in- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  99 

fluence  of  her  teachings — the  philosophy  she  preached  and 
practised — has  been  tremendous,  must  be  acknowledged. 
Measured  by  the  results  it  has  accomplished  for  the  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  of  men  and  women  who,  un- 
derstanding it  and  believing  it,  have  made  it  a  rule  of  their 
life,  its  potentiality  cannot  be  doubted. 

While  the  passing  away  of  Mrs.  Eddy  has  brought  a 
sense  of  sorrow  to  her  devoted  followers,  they  insist  that 
the  church  will  not  perish,  but  continue  its  growth,  and 
the  philosophy  of  Christian  Science  will  be  as  enduring  as 
time  itself.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  death  of  Mary  Baker 
Eddy  removes  from  earth  a  woman  of  whom  it  can  be  said, 
The  world  has  been  made  immeasurably  better  because  she 
lived  in  it. 

[Coshocton  (O.)  Daily  Age] 

The  passing  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  one  of 
the  world's  great  women,  no  matter  whether  one  agreed 
with  her  teachings  or  not.  She  filled  her  place  in  the  world 
and  filled  it  well.  Her  teachings,  no  matter  what  else  they 
may  maintain,  worked  for  purity,  honesty,  and  temporal 
concord,  as  well  as  the  ever  betterment  of  self.  She  held 
undoubted  power  over  those  who  followed  her  faith,  but 
mature  study  of  conditions  leads  an  outsider  to  believe  it 
was  the  power  of  love  rather  than  the  power  of  fear.  With 
a  wonderful  equanimity  she  withstood  the  bitterest  assaults, 
and  was  an  embodiment  of  the  Biblical  adage  that  "a  soft 
answer  turneth  away  wrath." 

[Pueblo  (Col.)  Indicator] 

Mrs.  Eddy  is  dead,  but  Christian  Science  did  not  die 
with  her,  and  thereby  is  unfolded  a  tale  of  more  stability 
than  many  supposed  the  cult  possessed,  for  this  remark- 
able woman  was  its  originator,  its  Founder,  and  for  long 
years  one  of  its  chiefest  supporters.  And  now  that  she  is 
gone,  that  the  gospel  which  she  expounded  still  remains  is  to 
be  taken  as  one  of  the  proofs  that  Christian  Science  is  based 
upon  something  substantial.    It  must  be  that  it  affords  great 


100  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

spiritual  comfort  and  consolation,  else  so  many  men  and 
women  of  high  intelligence  and  well  known  good  citizen- 
ship would  not  belong  to  that  sect. 

[The  Farmers  Voice,  Chicago,  111.] 

Not  merely  one  of  the  world's  great  women — one  of  the 
world's  great  personages  passed  away  when  Mary  Baker 
Eddy  died  in  Boston.  She  must  be  adjudged  great  if  meas- 
ured only  by  the  extent  of  the  influence  she  exerted  over 
the  minds  and  lives  of  men  and  women  over  all  the  earth. 
That  influence  was  world-wide  and  strongly  potent  in  its 
workings,  guiding  and  controlling  the  views  of  hundreds 
upon  hundreds  of  thousands  of  exceptionally  intelligent 
disciples. 

[Temple  (Tex.)  Daily  Telegram] 

In  the  day  in  which  a  religion  is  born  but  few  people 
realize  it,  and  it  takes  generations  usually  to  develop  a  fol- 
lowing for  great  teachers.  In  Mrs.  Eddy's  case  she  lived  to 
see  her  church  and  her  doctrines  adopted  by  millions,  and 
who  knows  but  that  in  the  distant  future  those  who  knew 
her  and  were  her  companions  will  be  held  in  the  same  ven- 
eration as  are  to-day  the  disciples  of  Christ,  whose  teachings 
she  illuminated? 

[  Yorkshire  Evening  Post,  Leeds,  England] 

No  one  (says  a  writer  in  the  Outlook)  ever  entered 
Mrs.  Eddy's  study  who  did  not  leave  it  not  only  a  braver 
but  a  better  man. 

[News-Signal,  Middletown,  O.] 

One  of  the  remarkable  characters  not  well  understood  by 
the  world  at  large  was  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  Her  religious 
zeal,  her  claims,  and  her  work  would  make  a  good  subject 
for  a  sermon.  In  the  first  place,  she  built  up  a  larger  fol- 
lowing than  any  other  woman  who  has  ever  lived  has  built 
up.  It  has  been  given  only  to  men  in  the  past  to  become 
leaders  of  large  classes  of  people,  the  organizations  founded 
upon  the  teachings  of  women  having  always  been  limited 
in  numbers. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  101 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  other  person  has 
lived  in  modern  times  who  has  had  a  more  loyal  following, 
those  professing  the  doctrines  she  taught  not  only  making 
those  doctrines  a  part  of  their  daily  lives,  but  passing  to 
eternity  without  fear  of  the  future  while  embracing  them. 
In  other  words,  they  have  found  Christian  Science  not  only 
a  religion  by  which  to  live,  but  also  a  religion  which  com- 
forted in  the  last  hours.  In  no  other  church  to-day  is  there 
more  implicit  faith  than  in  the  Christian  Science  church, 
and  that  faith  is  centered  in  the  words  of  this  one  woman 
and  her  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 

[Arizona  Journal-Miner,  Prescott,  Ariz.] 

The  average  intelligence  of  Christian  Scientists  ranks  far 
ahead  of  the  intelligence  of  any  other  creedal  membership, 
and  in  its  ranks  are  found  many  talented  and  intellectual 
people.  It  is  only  the  uninformed  who  attempt  to  deny  these 
facts.  To  have  founded  such  a  faith,  whether  it  lasts  ten 
or  a  thousand  years  after  her  death,  is  a  wonderful  and 
glorious  work.  They  who  did  not  know  Mrs.  Eddy  per- 
sonally have  no  means  of  judging  her  save  by  her  work, 
and  this  was  only  good.  She  found  a  large  body  of  intelli- 
gent, broad-minded,  unorthodox  men  and  women,  who  still 
demanded  a  set  and  limited  religious  belief,  and  she  gave 
them  one  the  like  of  which  the  history  of  the  world  has 
never  seen.  She  found  ailing,  nervous,  and  diseased  men 
and  women  who,  being  unable  to  cure  their  own  ills,  were 
as  unsuccessful  in  securing  health  from  orthodox  sources, 
and  she  healed  them — thousands  of  them.  Only  the  unin- 
formed will  care  to  deny  it.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  in  many  re- 
spects the  most  remarkable  figure  in  all  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury and  in  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth. 

[Index-Republican,  Bellefontaine,  O.] 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  age,  or  of  any 
age,  has  ended  her  career  in  the  death  of  the  Founder  of 
Christian  Science.  The  most  bitter  hostility  to  Mrs.  Eddy 
and  the  most  complete  rejection  of  her  doctrines  and  her 


102  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

church  organization  cannot,  if  honest  and  intelligent,  deny 
that  she  has  been  a  far-reaching  and  vital  force  in  the  thought 
and  life  of  her  times.  The  religion  which  she  founded 
and  completely  dominated  has  more  or  less  colored  and 
permeated  very  important  phases  of  existence  for  a  multi- 
tude of  men  and  women  who  do  not  call  themselves  Chris- 
tian Scientists  and  are  not,  in  fact,  connected  with  the 
Christian  Science  organization. 

[Westmount  (Que.)  News'] 

The  world  has  had  many  women  of  great  deeds,  and 
among  the  modern  women  of  achievement  and  fame  not  one 
has  stood  with  us  and  approached  nearer  the  zenith  of  her 
hopes  than  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  We  in  Westmount  do 
not  know  as  much  as  we  should  of  the  Christian  Science 
movement,  but  although  it  has  hardly  passed  its  thirtieth 
mile-stone  its  power  and  influence  is  being  greatly  felt. 
Across  the  border,  from  The  Mother  Church  in  Boston, 
have  gone  forward  crusaders  with  stout  hearts,  and  to-day 
there  are  over  one  thousand  branches,  scattered  across  two 
continents. 

[News  Scimitar,  Memphis,  Term.] 

Mrs.  Eddy's  text-book,  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to 
the  Scriptures,"  accepted  the  statements  of  the  Bible  that 
God  made  all,  and  all  He  made  was  good;  that  He  was 
Spirit;  and  then  concluded  that,  being  Spirit,  He  could 
create  nothing  so  unlike  Himself  as  matter,  and  further, 
He  being  Spirit,  man  made  in  His  likeness  and  image  must 
be  spiritual.  She  also  rested  her  case  on  the  other  state- 
ment that  God,  while  all  wise,  all  powerful,  and  all  present, 
was  of  purer  vision  than  to  behold  evil,  and  she  contended 
that  evil  was  only  a  lie  from  the  father  of  lies,  a  negation,  the 
absence  or  denial  of  good,  or  maybe  ignorance  of  good. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  church,  in  the  forty  years  of  her  ministry 
and  leadership,  probably  grew  faster  than  any  other  reli- 
gious body  in  the  same  time,  and  it  is  a  monument  to  her 
that  its  membership  embraces  people  of  culture  and  of  the 
best  type  of  citizenship,  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.    As 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  103 

to  her  doctrine  or  her  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  her  carrying  the  inconsequence  of  the 
material  to  the  ultimate  of  its  actual  non-existence,  could 
be  other  than  helpful  to  civilization,  as  all  wars,  large  or 
small,  between  different  nations,  or  the  frictions  of  indi- 
viduals, are  over  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  ma- 
terial, because  in  the  world  of  Spirit  there  is  no  limitation 
or  lack.  One  man's  unlimited  possessions  in  the  field  of 
Spirit  in  no  sense  diminish  any  other  man's  possessions. 
On  the  material  plane,  every  man's  holdings  in  some  degree 
diminish  other  men's  holdings. 

Mrs.  Eddy  finally  won  her  way  to  the  respect  of  the 
country,  of  the  world,  among  believers  and  non-believers 
particularly,  so  far  as  this  could  be  learned  from  expressions 
of  the  press.  As  to  the  attitude  of  her  following,  probably 
no  other  leader  has  attained  such  distinction  of  unqualified 
deference  and  influence,  not  only  on  their  professions  and 
outer  conduct,  but  on  their  lives. 

[Daily  Times,  Leavenworth,  Kan.] 

Whatever  condemnation  or  praise  may  be  accorded  the 
creed  of  Christian  Science — and  it  receives  its  meed  of 
both — Mary  Baker  Eddy  in  giving  it  to  the  world  per- 
formed a  worthy  service.  Christian  Science,  putting  aside 
any  discussion  of  its  specific  tenets,  teaches  right  living,  and 
any  instruction  which  encourages  us  to  live  wholesome  lives, 
even  according  to  lay  judgments  is  good.  The  creed,  en- 
listing some  of  the  best  minds  in  the  country,  must  by  that 
very  evidence,  have  a  preponderance  of  virtue  in  it,  a  quality 
which  Mrs.  Eddy  supplied. 

[Ottawa  (Kan.)  Daily  Republic] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  from  the 
arena  of  human  activity  one  of  the  brightest  and  strongest 
minds  that  the  world  has  produced.  Believers  in  the  doc- 
trines of  Christian  Science  revere  Mrs.  Eddy  as  almost 
divine,  while  unbelievers  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  the 
force  of  her  wonderful  personality.    The  Founder  of  a  new 


104  MARY    BAKER   EDDY 

religious  system  who  can  in  a  single  generation  mold  the 
thought  and  win  the  allegiance  of  nearly  a  million  intelli- 
gent people  must  be  accorded  credit  for  exceptional  genius. 
This  Mrs.  Eddy  did.  She  established  a  religious  society 
noted  the  world  over  for  its  sincerity  and  zeal,  and  one 
which,  in  all  probability,  will  be  a  monument  to  her  name 
for  many  generations  to  come. 


[Marshalltown  (la.)  Daily  Herald] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  has  removed  from 
life  perhaps  the  most  unique  woman  character  known  to 
history.  This  much  may  be  truthfully  said,  and  there  are 
none  who  are  familiar  with  the  church  she  founded  who 
will  question  this,  whether  her  doctrines  appeal  to  them  or 
not.  The  fact  stands  out  clearly  that  her  teachings  have 
taken  hold  in  a  most  remarkable  way  on  the  lives  of  many 
thousands  of  people,  and  these  people  are  among  the  very 
best  in  the  country. 

[Success  Magazine] 

The  Christian  Science  church  has  lost  its  Founder  and 
Leader  in  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy — the  most  power- 
ful religious  leader  of  this  age,  and  a  woman  who  reached 
that  position  through  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  Re- 
gardless of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  Christian  Science,  the 
fact  remains  that  it  has  a  large  and  influential  following, 
that  its  members  are  earnest  and  intelligent  men  and 
women,  and  that  it  has  gained  its  following  by  appeal  to 
the  reason  rather  than  through  force  and  persecution.  Never 
before  in  history  has  a  woman  founded  so  important  a 
movement. 

[Parsons  (Kan.)  Sun] 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  from  life 
one  who  has  blessed  life  in  the  living.  She  gave  to  the 
world  a  new  creed  and  a  new  guide  of  action,  and  whether 
you  believe  that  creed  or  follow  that  guide,  no  one  will 
doubt  but  that  each  has  been  for  the  betterment  of  hu- 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  105 

manity.  The  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  which  she  estab- 
lished, has  grown  in  less  than  a  half  century  to  one  of  the 
great  organizations  of  the  world,  embracing  millions  within 
its  membership.  Few  founders  of  a  sect  have  witnessed 
within  their  own  life  so  great  a  growth  of  the  organization 
of  which  they  were  the  founder.  Her  death,  while  regretted, 
will  cause  no  break  in  that  growth  nor  take  from  her  fol- 
lowers any  of  their  faith  and  loyalty  to  the  creed  she  gave 
them.  One  of  the  wonderful  statements  she  has  made  was 
that  her  followers  were  to  forget  personality  and  work  for 
the  cause  of  Christian  Science. 


[Daily  Colonist,  Victoria,  B.  C] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  a  remarkable  woman.  While 
she  was  the  Founder  of  what  is  known  as  Christian  Science, 
she  made  no  claim  to  be  its  originator,  for  the  fundamental 
Principle  of  it  is  as  old  as  the  human  race.  This  is  not 
the  time  to  discuss  the  tenets  held  by  those  persons  who 
looked  to  her  as  their  Leader;  but  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
to  express  the  hope  that  what  is  best  in  her  teachings  will 
survive.  And  there  was  much  that  was  good  in  those  teach- 
ings; more  possibly  than  many  of  us  are  prepared  to  admit. 
A  storm  of  controversy  has  raged  around  Christian  Science 
and  Mrs.  Eddy.  She  was  the  victim  of  many  bitter  at- 
tacks and  much  misrepresentation.  Shafts  of  ridicule  were 
discharged  against  her  and  those  who  held  as  she  did; 
but  no  one  who  knows  the  facts  will  venture  to  deny  that 
what  she  taught  has  been  a  source  of  hope  and  comfort  to 
thousands. 

[Calgary  (Can.)  Herald] 

With  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  figures  of  this  or  any  age  passes  from  the 
world's  stage.  To  have  been  for  half  a  century  the  head 
of  a  great  movement  is  a  lot  conferred  on  few.  To  have 
been  for  the  same  length  of  time  the  center  of  heated  con- 
troversies, of  bitter  attacks,  of  religious  and  philosophical 
arguments,  is  a  record  that  few  would  have  survived.    To 


106  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

die  at  the  age  of  ninety,  leaving  a  devoted  following  that 
numbers  millions  of  souls,  with  their  churches  scattered 
throughout  the  world,  is  but  the  climax  of  a  wonderful 
career. 

That  Mrs.  Eddy's  death  will  have  any  marked  effect  on 
the  Christian  Science  church  is  unlikely.  Her  work  was 
done.  To  her,  and  to  her  alone,  is  due  the  foundation  of 
the  faith  she  taught,  and  during  its  earlier  history  her  pres- 
ence and  her  personality  were  no  doubt  essential  to  its 
progress,  if  not  to  its  very  life.  In  recent  years,  however, 
she  relegated  to  others  many  of  her  former  activities,  though 
she  had  not  altogether  retired  from  work.  To-day  her  church 
is  so  fully  organized  as  to  be  independent  even  of  her  per- 
sonality, and  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  machinery  of  the 
organization  will  continue  uninterruptedly. 

[Republican  Picket,  Red  Lodge,  Mont.] 

Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  of  Christian  Science,  author 
of  a  book  which  has  had  a  phenomenal  sale  during  the  last 
two  decades,  scholar,  teacher,  and  a  genuine  Christian,  has 
passed  away.  Death  brought  to  her  no  sting,  the  grave 
claims  no  victory.  The  life  of  this  great  and  noble  woman 
was  as  nearly  Christlike  as  that  of  any  person  of  modern 
times.  Her  severest  and  harshest  critics  must  admit  that 
she  was  a  good  woman  and  that  her  teachings  were  not 
calculated  to  harm  any  one.  Mrs.  Eddy,  by  her  work,  her 
expression  of  religious  thought,  her  writings,  and  her  life's 
devotion  to  the  cause  she  believed  to  be  a  just  and  good 
cause,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world,  and 
that  world  to-day  is  better  because  she  lived  in  it.  It  would 
be  a  difficult  task  to  find  one  who  has  analyzed  the  Scrip- 
tures as  thoroughly  as  she,  and  brought  them  into  plainer 
view,  into  a  clearer  light  and  meaning. 

Putting  aside  all  considerations  of  the  healing  power  said 
to  have  been  held  by  this  remarkable  woman,  the  plain  fact 
that  she  taught  people  how  to  understand  many  things  in 
the  Bible,  which  contains  so  very,  very  many  which  the 
average  mind  is  unable  to  comprehend — the  fact  that  she 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  107 

accomplished  even  so  much  commends  her  life-work  to  the 
earnest,  pious  consideration  of  all  thinking  peoples. 

The  fact  that  a  mighty  army  of  Christians,  intelligent, 
thinking,  practical,  conservative  men  and  women  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  followed  her,  respected  her,  even  revered  her, 
should,  it  seems,  be  accepted  as  competent  material  evidence 
of  the  woman's  influence  for  universal  good.  Unfortunately 
there  is  no  one  to  take  Mrs.  Eddy's  place,  although  the 
well  established,  firmly  planted  church  of  Christian  Scien- 
tists is  bound  to  grow — it  is  and  will  continue  to  be  a  tremen- 
dous force  for  good. 

[London  (Ont.)  Free  Press] 

To  the  long  list  of  women  who  have  been  leaders  in 
religious  movements  of  the  world,  death  has  added  the 
name  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  of  the  Christian  Science 
church  in  America.  Born  in  a  farmhouse  overlooking  the 
beautiful  Merrimac  valley,  she  is  described  as  having  been 
"a  very  delicate  and  a  very  religious  little  girl."  Yet  that 
delicate  little  girl  was  destined  to  become  the  Founder  of 
a  sect  which  in  her  own  country  alone  has  well  on  to  one 
hundred  thousand  communicants,  and  that  has  spread  all 
over  the  world. 

There  has  been  a  tendency  to  joke  about  the  teachings  of 
this  woman,  but  a  movement  that  has  spread  as  has  Chris- 
tian Science,  including  in  its  ranks  men  who  are  leaders  in 
all  walks  of  life,  must  be  viewed  as  of  importance.  Par- 
ticularly is  this  so  when  it  is  considered  that  it  has  all  been 
brought  to  pass  in  a  period  of  thirty-five  years,  and  that 
during  all  of  that  period  the  teachings  have  been  criticized 
and  in  many  quarters  strongly  denounced. 

The  world  has  seen  the  rise  and  fall  of  many  new  re- 
ligious movements,  but  it  does  not  seem  as  if  a  better  test 
has  ever  been  devised  by  man  than  that  which  Gamaliel 
proposed  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  when  Chris- 
tianity was  first  on  trial:  "If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be 
of  men,  it  will  come  to  naught;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  can- 
not overthrow  it." 


108  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

[Madisonian,  Virginia  City,  Mont.] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Discoverer  and  Founder  of 
Christian  Science,  is  dead.  That  announcement  carries  grief 
to  thousands  of  people  who  have  been  her  followers  and 
who  have  been  her  pupils  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
There  have  been  scoffers  at  the  belief  she  taught  and  the 
principles  she  followed,  but  there  are  tens  of  thousands  who 
have  benefited  by  following  the  lesson  of  life  as  she  gave  it, 
and  there  are  better  men  and  women  to-day  than  there  would 
have  been  had  she  not  lived  her  allotted  span  of  life  upon 
this  earth.    The  world  is  better  for  her  having  lived  in  it. 

[Cedar  Rapids  (la.)  Evening  Times] 

Mrs.  Eddy  is  the  Founder  of  a  society  that  has  its  fol- 
lowers in  every  part  of  the  world.  They  have  gathered 
themselves  together  in  all  the  cities  of  America,  and  many 
of  the  finest  edifices  for  religious  purposes  have  been  erected 
by  the  Christian  Scientists.  Whatever  some  may  think  of 
Mrs.  Eddy,  or  of  the  nature  of  the  influence  she  has  ex- 
erted, it  must  be  admitted  by  all  that  that  influence  has 
been  wonderful  as  well  as  far-reaching.  She  touched  many 
of  the  springs  of  human  activity,  and  she  must  have  reached 
the  heartstrings  of  humanity,  satisfied  some  of  the  quests 
of  the  human  soul,  or  she  would  not  have  gathered  such  a 
world-wide  following.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  her  fol- 
lowers have  not  been  among  the  ignorant,  but  among  the 
great  middle  class  of  American  intellectual  life.  Christian 
Science  has  flourished  most  among  those  classes  which  are 
able  to  think  for  themselves. 

The  effect  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  death  upon  the  church  will 
not  be  momentous.  That  great  body  is  well  disciplined, 
and  Mrs.  Eddy  has  provided  for  the  continuation  of  the 
organization,  as  well  as  she  did  for  its  founding.  We  are 
told  there  will  be  no  successor  in  the  church.  She  will  stand 
alone. 

[Butte  (Mont.)  Tribune-Review] 

With  the  passing  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  the 
world  has  lost  one  of  its  remarkable  women.    Her  writings 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  109 

and  her  teachings  will  continue  to  live.  This  truly  won- 
derful woman  really  commenced  the  work  of  her  life  when 
the  average  woman  is  about  to  give  up.  No  one  can  charge 
that  Mrs.  Eddy  used  her  great  powers  to  further  her  own 
personal  interests — and  her  powers  for  organization  were 
remarkable.  As  an  observer  of  human  nature  she  pos- 
sessed great  insight,  and  had  the  faculty  of  gathering  around 
her  men  and  women  who  carried  out  her  wishes  to  the 
letter. 

If  Mrs.  Eddy  had  accomplished  nothing  more,  she  did  a 
great  work  when  she  founded  The  Christian  Science  Monitor, 
which  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  has  risen  to  tremendous 
proportions  in  the  journalistic  field.  By  this  alone  her  in- 
fluence for  good  is  difficult  to  estimate.  All  other  things 
were  as  nothing  compared  to  her  life-work  of  founding 
the  new  thought  of  Christian  Science,  and  it  will  not  be 
found  wanting  in  the  elevation  of  the  human  family  to 
a  higher  plane.  It  is  now  exercising  a  world-wide  influence, 
and  her  followers  have  been  recruited  from  every  avenue 
of  life.  The  most  learned  and  cultured  have  accepted  her 
teachings,  while  the  humble  and  unlettered  have  found  com- 
fort therein.  Her  teachings  were  the  very  extreme  of  some 
of  our  other  Christian  churches,  and  might  be  summed 
up  in  one  word — repose.  Her  life  was  a  shining  example 
of  her  own  doctrine.  No  matter  from  what  point  of  view 
her  life  may  be  judged,  her  success  must  be  counted  as  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  age. 

[Davenport  (la.)  Democrat  and  Leader] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  of  Christian 
Science,  is  the  most  notable  event  of  the  past  few  days. 
To  her  followers,  she  has  simply  passed  on  a  little  way 
ahead.  They  declare  her  presence  with  them  as  much  as 
ever,  and  it  is  officially  announced  that  she  will  have  no 
successor  as  the  head  of  the  church. 

It  is  a  remarkable  career  that  has  closed.  In  a  third  of 
a  century  the  church  that  she  founded  has  increased  until  its 
services  draw  together  weekly  the  members  of  more  than 


110  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

a  thousand  churches,  and  the  church  is  estimated  to  have  a 
million  adherents.  There  is  no  more  remarkable  fact  in 
the  past  thirty-five  years  than  this,  and  it  was  Mrs.  Eddy 
who  gave  the  movement  its  original  inspiration,  and  who 
guided  it  to  its  present  status.  Now,  say  the  members  of 
the  church,  it  has  become  so  well  established  that  her  going 
will  affect  it  not  at  all.  "Science"  will  go  on  just  as  if  she 
were  still  visibly  at  its  head. 

[Manitowoc  (Wis.)  Daily  Herald] 

The  passing  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  head  of  the  Christian 
Science  church,  is  an  event  of  more  than  ordinary  moment, 
and  many  are  the  predictions  as  to  the  future  of  the  faith 
which  is  now  professed  by  over  a  million  people  in  all  lands 
of  the  earth.  These,  and  there  are  many  in  this  city,  be- 
lieve that  she  has  given  a  real  peace  message  to  the  world, 
hope,  and  ultimate  freedom  from  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to. 
On  the  other  hand  are  bitter  critics,  who  deny  all  her  doc- 
trines. The  storm  of  controversy  that  has  raged  about 
Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  faith  will  not  cease  with  her  death.  It 
is  predicted  on  one  side  that  the  church  will  topple  and  fall 
without  the  cohesive  influence  of  her  captaincy,  and  on  the 
other  that  she  put  the  church  on  its  feet  long  ago  and  that 
it  will  move  forward  of  its  own  momentum. 

Whatever  the  future  of  the  church — and  we  are  inclined 
to  think  that  it  will  flourish  and  propagate — the  tenets 
Mrs.  Eddy  preached  and  taught  have  had  a  powerful  influ- 
ence on  current  thought.  Through  her,  thousands  believe 
they  have  found  the  way  to  health.  Whatever  it  is,  there  are 
many,  even  in  Manitowoc,  who  are  sincere  in  their  belief 
of  Science  healing  and  have  their  own  experience  to  con- 
vince the  doubting.  It  should  be  remembered  even  by  her 
severest  critics  that  Mrs.  Eddy  at  least  taught  optimism. 
Scientists  (take  those  in  our  midst  for  example)  are  sunny, 
hopeful,  and  cheerful.  The  Leader  taught  that  brooding  on 
the  ills  of  life  is  a  sin,  and  this  wholesome  doctrine  has 
made  chronic  grumblers,  fretful  invalids  loaded  under  a 
burden  of  imaginary  ills,  into  bright,  active,  and  better  men 
and  women. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  111 

[Hamilton  (Can.)  Times] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  and  Leader  of  the 
Christian  Science  church,  is  dead,  in  her  ninetieth  year. 
Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  remarkable  woman,  and  the  influence 
which  she  exercised  over  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  her 
followers  makes  her  a  unique  figure  in  religious  history.  She 
was  more  than  priestess  and  prophetess.  She  was  an  ad- 
ministrator of  great  power  and  capacity,  and  she  possessed 
to  a  remarkable  degree  the  gift  of  dealing  with  men  and 
women  in  individuals  and  in  the  mass,  and  winning  and  re- 
taining their  respect  and  devotion. 

[Omaha  (Neb.)  Evening  Bee] 

Contemporaries  should  not  write  history,  and  their  at- 
tempts at  biography  should  be  tentative  rather  than  definite. 
For  this  reason  no  one  should  undertake  to  put  a  final  value 
on  the  services  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  In  many  ways  she 
was  the  most  notable  woman  of  her  time.  It  may  easily  be 
questioned  if  any  other  woman  of  modern  times  has  wielded 
the  influence  and  affected  directly  as  many  lives  as  did 
Mrs.  Eddy,  and  this  influence  was  of  the  most  benign  char- 
acter. It  does  not  matter  what  individual  opinions  we  may 
hold  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  teachings  of  Mrs.  Eddy. 
Whether  her  premise  was  tenable  or  her  conclusions  sound, 
we  are  forced  to  admit  that  her  followers  found  under  her  a 
peace  of  mind  that  does  not  exist  elsewhere. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  church  brings  to  its  people  a  message  of 
peace  and  a  promise  of  better  things.  It  is  unobtrusively 
militant  along  lines  of  doing  good,  and  the  woman  who 
founded  this  cult  will  be  followed  to  her  last  resting-place 
by  the  hearts  of  millions  who  looked  up  to  her  as  the  in- 
spired head  of  a  great  school  of  religious  activity.  She 
will  not  be  publicly  mourned,  at  least,  because  her  people 
believe  she  has  gone  on  to  a  higher  plane  of  existence,  and 
in  this  there  is  no  cause  for  sorrow.  She  must  necessarily 
be  listed  among  the  remarkable  women  of  her  time,  and 
the  prediction  is  not  unwise  that  sets  down  for  her  a  verdict 
by  history  that  she  did  good  while  living. 


112  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

[Des  Moines  (la.)  Capital] 

In  reflecting  upon  the  remarkable  career  which  has  just 
terminated  at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  the  ancient  query  of 
Pilate,  "What  is  truth?"  seems  to  come  readily  to  mind.  Was 
Mary  Baker  Eddy  a  prophet  of  God  sent  into  the  world  to 
inaugurate  a  new  dispensation?  Did  she  usher  in  light 
where  only  darkness  reigned  before?  Will  the  church  which 
she  founded  demonstrate  in  the  years  to  come  that  it  is 
builded  upon  that  rock  against  which  the  gates  of  hell  can 
ne'er  prevail? 

These  are  questions  which  have  been  discussed  with 
growing  fervor  as  the  Christian  Science  propaganda  has 
passed  from  the  day  of  small  things  into  an  era  of  unmis- 
takable influence  in  the  realm  of  religious  thought.  We 
cannot  answer  them.  The  present  generation  cannot  answer 
them.  Regardless  of  what  our  individual  beliefs,  doubts, 
or  intellectual  or  moral  conceptions  may  be,  we  are  sooner 
or  later  forced  to  the  conclusion  which  Tennyson  has  so 
happily  expressed, — 

Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns. 

Here  we  have  the  philosophy  of  true  growth.  Thus  does 
man's  horizon  broaden  as  the  eyes  of  his  understanding  are 
opened.  The  quest  for  truth  is  rewarded  according  to  our 
capacity  to  receive  it — in  the  fulness  of  time. 

[Ft.  Wayne  (Ind.)  Sentinel] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  of  the  Christian  Science 
church,  leaves  behind  her  such  a  monument  of  achievement 
as  no  woman  in  any  age,  perhaps,  had  builded.  The  Chris- 
tian Science  church  and  its  propaganda  in  a  matter  of  some 
thirty  years  have  gone  almost  literally  around  the  world. 
To-day  in  the  United  States  there  is  hardly  a  community  of 
notable  size  that  has  not  an  organized  body  of  this  sect, 
and  doubtless  none  that  has  not  one  or  more  who  have 
accepted  and  practised  its  doctrines.  What  the  future  of 
the  church  is  to  be,  without  its  Founder  and  Leader,  only 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  113 

time  can  tell;  but  it  is  true  that  to-day  the  Christian  Science 
denomination  shows  such  a  spread  over  the  earth  and  such 
proportions  of  growth  as  have  been  true  of  no  other  re- 
ligious movement  in  like  time  in  any  age  of  the  world. 
Millions  of  people  acknowledge  the  doctrines  formulated  and 
spread  by  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her  followers.  The  movement 
has  built  magnificent  cathedrals  and  churches,  it  has  estab- 
lished centers  for  its  literature  all  over  the  globe,  it  has 
enlisted  men  and  women  of  the  highest  type  of  intellect  in 
its  teachings  and  in  its  propaganda. 

This  is  the  work  of  a  woman  whose  nature  was  timid, 
whose  disposition  was  modest,  and  whose  tastes  were  retir- 
ing. Mrs.  Eddy  never  sought  the  limelight.  Where  she 
might  have  made  herself  heroic,  she  was  content  to  live  as 
much  out  of  sight  as  possible,  and  watch  and  direct  the 
growth  of  the  sect  she  had  founded  and  the  doctrine  she 
had  enunciated. 

[Pioneer,  Bemidji,  Minn.] 

With  no  thought  as  to  the  right  or  wrong  of  the  religious 
organization  of  which  Mrs.  Eddy  was  at  the  head,  this 
much  can  be  said:  This  Boston  woman's  life  was  as  beau- 
tiful as  it  was  devoted,  and  as  sublime  as  were  her  teachings. 
Her  church,  the  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  or  as  it  is  more 
commonly  known,  Christian  Scientist,  sprang  from  the 
mind  of  Mrs.  Eddy.  Her  theory  has  been  so  convincing 
that  men  and  women  of  culture  and  master  minds  in  all 
corners  of  civilization  have  adopted  it  as  the  true  doctrine 
— modern  edifices  in  hundreds  of  cities  bearing  evidence 
of  this  fact. 

The  Christian  Scientists  publish  a  modern  and,  be  it 
said  to  their  credit,  remarkably  clean  daily  newspaper  in 
addition  to  many  other  publications.  The  growth  of  the 
church  has  been  phenomenal. 

[Ames  (la.)  Intelligencer] 

In  the  passing  of  Mrs.  Eddy  the  world  will  learn  more 
of  Christian  Science  and  have  a  higher  conception  of  the 
teachings  of  the  grand,  good  woman  who  put  sunshine  into 


114  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

thousands  of  gloomy  homes.  Mrs.  Eddy,  as  the  world 
knows  her,  is  dead,  but  for  the  followers  of  Christian  Science 
and  all  enlightened  Christian  churches  she  still  lives  and 
will  continue  to  live. 

[Hastings  (Neb.)  Daily  Tribune] 

Unquestionably  Mrs.  Eddy  was  the  most  remarkable 
woman  of  her  day,  as  she  founded  a  religion  the  influence 
of  which  is  being  felt  around  the  world,  and  it  gains  in 
strength  as  it  gains  in  age. 

[Rock  Island  (111.)  Union] 

The  life  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  has  come  to  a  close.  She 
was  no  ordinary  person.  Whatever  may  be  your  belief,  or 
whether  you  make  any  religious  professions  or  not,  you 
must  admit  that  she  has  accomplished  great  things,  and  her 
accomplishments  have  resulted  in  good.  The  facts — the 
proof  of  these  two  propositions — are  apparent  to  all.  Chris- 
tian Science  was  "discovered"  by  her.  She  was.  its  fountain- 
head,  and  to-day,  thirty-one  years  after  the  first  church  was 
chartered,  there  are  over  a  million  adherents.  That  is  proof 
sufficient  of  the  first  statement.  The  hundreds  of  men  and 
women  that  are  known  by  you,  who  have  become  better, 
morally  and  physically,  after  becoming  adherents  of  that 
faith,  is  ample  proof  of  the  second  proposition. 

The  life  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  a  wonderful  life.  The 
story  of  her  struggles  is  filled  with  the  power  of  will — at 
least  will — over  matter.  Here  was  a  master  mind.  It  was 
wonderful  to  conceive  and  to  carry  into  execution  a  concep- 
tion so  broad  and  of  such  magnitude.  It  was  wonderful 
that  she  was  able  to  resist  the  temptations,  the  flatteries  of 
fawning  sycophants,  and  adhere  to  the  one  great  theme, 
the  power  "of  the  infinite  over  the  finite,"  the  "elimination 
of  wrong"  by  the  establishment — the  eternal  prevalence — 
of  right. 

Then  there  comes  the  third  proposition,  which  also  must 
be  admitted  by  all.  Christian  Science  has  come  to  stay, 
and  its  growth  for  the  future,  if  predictions  may  be  based 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  115 

upon  what  it  has  done  in  the  past,  will  be  of  considerable 
magnitude.  Mrs.  Eddy  had  found  a  place  in  the  religious 
world  that  was  not  being  filled,  and  an  enduring  fame  has 
been  established. 

[Portland  (Ore.)  Journal] 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  wonderful  woman.  None  but  a  won- 
derful woman  could  have  founded  an  organization  which 
placed  her  at  the  head  of  more  than  a  million  followers. 
They  are  followers  in  a  sense  that  means  far  more  than 
the  ordinary  relation  between  leader  and  disciple.  It  in- 
volves a  consecration  of  faith  and  life,  the  absolute  change 
in  personal  conduct,  a  complete  reordering  of  daily  life,  and 
the  investment  of  huge  sums  in  buildings  and  activities  re- 
lated to  the  Science  life.  History  reveals  no  other  woman 
who  has  by  personal  force  exercised  such  power.  As 
Founder  of  the  Science  church  Mrs.  Eddy  rose  into  position 
by  personal  achievement,  and  through  the  growth,  spread, 
and  perpetuity  of  the  organization  will  have  an  enduring 
fame. 

Every  faith  or  creed  has  its  opponents  and  critics,  and 
Christian  Science  has  its  share.  Many  of  us  are  not  ready 
to  go  to  the  extreme  length  of  faith  that  it  involves,  but 
we  can  all  agree  that  the  talents  and  achievements  of  its 
Founder  are  entitled  to  a  wholesome  respect. 


[Anderson  (Ind.)  Herald] 

There  are  many  who  do  not  subscribe  to  the  Christian 
Science  doctrine,  but  there  are  few  who  do  not  realize  that 
in  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eddy  one  of  the  greatest  women  of 
this  or  any  other  generation  has  gone.  Barring  all  refer- 
ence to  the  value  of  her  creed,  and  most  people  whether 
they  subscribe  to  it  or  not  will  admit  its  great  value,  it  is 
enough  to  know  that  in  the  space  of  one  life  she  has  created 
one  of  the  great  religious  institutions  of  the  period  and 
counts  her  followers  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  Her 
influence  on  her  own  generation  was  great  and  all  for  good. 
It  is  more  than  possible  that  it  will  extend,  through  her 


116  MARY   BAKER   EDDY 

books  and  disciples,  to  many  generations  to  come,  and  be 
one  of  the  great  factors  in  the  development  of  humanity. 

[Maiden  (Mass.)  Evening  News] 

Mrs.  Eddy  brought  happiness  to  thousands  of  people. 
Whether  they  are  imagining  that  happiness,  or  whether  it 
will  be  temporary  or  lasting,  is  begging  the  question. 
Through  her  writings  and  the  creed  she  founded,  people 
weary  in  body  and  soul  and  mind  have  found  rest  when 
they  could  not  find  it  elsewhere.  Therein  she  did  a  vast 
amount  of  good.  Humanity  is  decidedly  her  debtor.  There 
is  no  question  about  her  being  the  most  wonderful  woman 
of  her  day  and  generation.  She  won  the  faith  of  thousands 
of  intelligent  people,  and  they  found  in  that  faith  what  they 
had  been  groping  about  for  in  medicine  and  other  religions. 
That  was  enough  for  them,  and  the  best  endorsement  she 
could  have  secured. 


[Pacific  Commercial  Advertiser,  Honolulu,  Hawaii] 

Whatever  may  be  one's  religious  views,  it  will  be  gen- 
erally recognized  that  one  of  the  great  women  of  the  world 
has  passed  away  in  the  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  That 
one  person,  and  that  person  a  woman,  should  have,  practi- 
cally through  her  individual  efforts,  built  up  an  organiza- 
tion as  solid  and  as  deeply  rooted  as  the  Christian  Science 
church,  stamps  such  a  person  as  great,  in  every  sense  of 
the  word. 

[Jackson  (Miss.)  Daily  News] 

Regardless  of  conflicting  opinions  concerning  this  new 
religious  cult,  the  cold  facts  of  history  must  be  conceded. 
Mrs.  Eddy  enlisted  under  her  banner  nearly  a  million  fol- 
lowers within  a  decade,  and  she  must  be  accorded  a  unique 
place  among  the  religious  leaders  and  thinkers  of  this  day 
and  generation.  The  Christian  Science  movement  has  grown 
so  rapidly  and  shown  so  much  virility  amid  unusual  storm 
and  stress,  that  it  may  be  expected  to  survive  the  death  of 
its  Leader,  and  continue  to  show  strength  and  vitality  among 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  117 

the  creeds  and  cults  of  the  day.  Even  here  in  Mississippi, 
where  the  people  are  slow  to  adopt  new  spiritual  ideas,  cling- 
ing tenaciously  to  the  orthodox  faith  of  their  fathers,  Chris- 
tian Science  has  obtained  a  strong  foothold. 

Credit  must  be  given  where  credit  is  due,  regardless  of 
your  personal  views.  In  summarizing  the  life  of  Mrs.  Eddy, 
therefore,  we  must  admit  that  a  woman  with  the  will  and 
power  to  establish,  within  little  more  than  ten  years,  a  new 
religious  cult,  and  place  it  upon  such  a  firm  foundation, 
must  possess  more  than  ordinary  powers.  The  growth  of 
the  Christian  Science  movement,  the  establishment  of  its 
churches  in  magnificent  buildings,  and  the  organization  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  in  a  faith  which  has  be- 
come world-wide, — this  has  been  one  of  the  extraordinary 
phenomena  of  the  present  and  the  past  centuries. 

[Daily  Traveler,  Arkansas  City,  Kan.] 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  great  and  grand  woman.  We  believe 
her  to  have  been  the  greatest  woman  the  world  ever  knew. 
She  was  the  most  loved  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
maligned  woman  of  the  age. 

She  gave  to  the  world  a  religion  that  will  be  found  eter- 
nal. Those  who  have  espoused  it  have  found  it  a  great 
solace  and  it  has  made  them  better  citizens.  Its  teachings 
have  brought  a  good  God  closer  to  them  and  caused  them 
to  know  that  He  is  "a  very  present  help."  It  teaches  that 
God  is  Spirit,  Life,  Truth,  and  Love,  and  that  "man  is  His 
image  and  likeness,"  and  that  the  real  man  and  the  universe 
are  spiritual,  not  material.  It  teaches  that  God  is  the  only 
cause  and  creator,  and  there  is  no  other  presence  or  power. 
Upon  these  principles  is  founded  the  religion  which  Mrs. 
Eddy  discovered  and  gave  to  the  world,  and  it  is  rapidly 
covering  the  face  of  the  earth. 

To  Christian  Scientists  Mrs.  Eddy  was  their  beloved 
Leader.  She  was  their  wayshower  to  an  ever-present  sal- 
vation. They  feel  that  her  life-work  was  finished  and  that 
she  has  left  a  wonderful  heritage  to  those  who  desire  to 
accept  it. 


118  MARY   BAKER    EDDY 

[Meriden  (Conn.)  Record] 

The  passing  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  removes  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  women  of  the  present  century.  It  mat- 
ters little  whether  one  subscribes  to  her  creed  or  not,  the  fact 
remains  that  this  woman  became  a  potent  factor  in  making 
people  think  and  in  compelling  them  to  blaze  the  way 
either  for  her  beliefs  or  for  others  which  they  themselves 
discovered. 

There  are  many  people  who  have  no  sympathy  with 
Christian  Science  who  have  indirectly  been  greatly  aided  by 
the  interest  taken  in  it.  All  the  theories  of  mental  science, 
the  effect  of  mind  over  matter,  gained  new  impetus  from 
Mrs.  Eddy's  teachings.  The  very  extremes  to  which  she 
went  caused  people  to  look  up  the  subject,  if  for  no  loftier 
purpose  than  that  of  curiosity.  Investigation  led  into  devi- 
ous ways.  The  result  was  a  large  addition  to  the  sum  total 
of  human  knowledge.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that  if  the 
general  results  of  the  knowledge  gained  by  investigations 
made  into  the  subject  of  Christian  Science  could  be  known, 
it  would  be  found  it  had  been  for  the  good  of  humanity. 

[East  Oregonian,  Pendleton,  Ore.] 

It  is  estimated  that  in  the  United  States  there  are  one 
million  people  who  uphold  the  Christian  Science  creed — a 
creed  that  was  first  promulgated  by  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy. 
For  the  most  part  they  are  earnest  and  cultured  people. 
Without  ostentation  they  worship  God  in  accordance  with 
their  beliefs.  Their  interpretation  of  the  gospel  is  some- 
what different  from  the  orthodox  version,  and  this  has 
Drought  forth  criticism  from  those  who  follow  the  old- 
time  faiths.  Whether  the  Christian  Scientists  are  at  fault 
and  their  critics  are  right,  or  whether  just  the  opposite  is 
true,  is  an  open  question.  If  the  Christian  Science  church 
is  founded  upon  error,  it  cannot  live;  but  the  fact  that  the 
church  has  lived  this  long,  and  has  grown  in  popularity 
until  it  now  has  a  million  followers,  indicates  strongly  that 
there  is  much  truth  in  the  teachings  of  the  departed  Founder 
and  Leader. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  119 

[Jackson  (Miss.)  Clarion-Ledger] 

The  death  of  this  famed  woman  removes  one  of  the  most 
prominent  characters  of  the  present  century.  However  one 
may  feel  disposed  to  criticize  the  religious  faith  founded  by 
her,  all  must  admit  that  she  was  a  most  marvelous  woman, 
whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  uplift  of  mankind.  That 
she  was  possessed  of  an  intellect  far  above  the  average  can- 
not be  denied,  neither  can  it  be  questioned  that  she  used 
all  of  her  ability  in  her  efforts  toward  the  good  of  humanity. 
The  world's  highest  meed  of.  praise  is  bestowed  upon  those 
who  have  made  the  greatest  efforts  toward  its  good,  and  it 
is  this  fact  that  has  assured  for  her  a  high  place  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  world. 

The  preponderance  in  public  thought  which  she  attained 
as  the  Discoverer  and  Founder  of  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
Science,  and  the  tender  mother  love  which  finds  a  place  for 
her  in  thousands  of  hearts,  is  a  tribute  to  her  unselfish  love 
for  her  fellow-man. 

[Chicago  Journal] 

The  death  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy  well  might  serve  as 
inspiration  for  a  new  beatitude:  Blessed  are  they  who  need 
no  monument;  their  names  are  graven  on  many  hearts. 
Opinions  may  differ  as  to  the  adequacy  of  the  Christian 
Science  faith  to  answer  the  full  requirements  of  the  human 
soul;  but  few  deny  that  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  de- 
voted followers  the  teachings  of  Mrs.  Eddy  have  been  a 
hope  and  inspiration. 

Wisely  anticipating  the  time  when  she  could  be  with  her 
followers  only  in  spirit,  she  recently  had  withdrawn  herself 
as  far  as  possible  from  the  details  of  church  management. 
Consequently,  the  organization  that  she  has  perfected  will 
continue  to  perform  its  functions.  Her  life-work  was  well 
completed  and  will  endure. 

[Montreal  Gazette] 

Of  the  many  women  who  have  led  religious  movements 
in  modern  times,  none  attracted  more  attention  Or  estab- 
lished a  wider  influence  than  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  who 


120  MARY   BAKER   EDDY 

died  at  her  home  near  Boston  on  Saturday  night.  Mrs. 
Eddy's  followers  or  fellow-believers  were  not  generally  of 
the  class  that  is  subject  to  emotional  excitement.  They 
were  largely  of  superior  intelligence,  readers,  and  always 
ready  and  able  to  defend  the  doctrines  they  accepted.  They 
maintain  in  Boston  a  daily  paper,  which  in  its  breadth  of 
views  and  ability  to  discuss  large  questions  has  few  superi- 
ors in  America.  The  Christian  Science  people  have  been 
scoffed  at  and  laughed  at,  and  some  of  them,  going  to 
extremes,  have  suffered  harder  fortune.  Their  story,  like 
the  story  of  many  another  religious  movement,  may,  more 
than  anything  else,  mean  that  the  human  heart  longs  for 
the  preaching  of  faith,  and  turns  to  whoever  can  preach  it 
with  earnestness  and  sincerity. 

[Grand  Rapids  (Mich.)  Evening  Press] 

If  history  makes  clear  any  one  fact,  it  is  that  contempo- 
raneous judgments  are  often  inaccurate.  The  perspective 
of  time  is  necessary  to  a  calm  analysis  of  the  influences  which 
shape  thought.  Posterity  more  than  once  has  rejected  those 
acclaimed  prophets  in  a  bygone  day  and  crowned  those  who 
were  overlooked  by  their  fellows. 

The  axiom  will  hold  good  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Mary  Baker 
Eddy,  Discoverer  and  Founder  of  Christian  Science,  who 
died  Saturday  evening.  The  world  is  too  close  to  her  life 
and  her  work  to  give  an  unbiased  decision  as  to  their  sig- 
nificance. On  the  one  hand  are  her  thousands  of  followers, 
scattered  in  almost  every  civilized  land,  who  believe  she 
has  given  to  the  world  a  real  message  of  peace,  hope,  and 
ultimate  freedom  from  the  ills  to  which  flesh  so  long  has 
been  heir.  On  the  other  hand  are  her  many  critics,  some 
bitter,  some  mild,  but  all  denying  her  doctrines. 

Whatever  the  future  has  to  tell  of  Mrs.  Eddy  and  her 
teaching,  and  aside  from  whatever  opinion  one  may  have  as 
to  the  tenets  she  preached,  it  is  certain  that  she  has  been 
a  powerful  factor  in  current  thought.  The  growth  of  Chris- 
tian Science  as  the  sincere  belief  of  men  and  women  of 
varied  classes,  the  hundreds  of  magnificent  churches  which 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  121 

have  been  reared  by  her  disciples,  and,  most  of  all,  the 
enormous  circulation  of  her  book,  "Science  and  Health  with 
Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  proves  that.  Through  Mrs.  Eddy 
thousands  believe  they  found  the  way  to  health. 

If  any  one  influence  which  she  exerted  should  be  remem- 
bered, it  is  that  she  taught  optimism.  Christian  Scientists 
are  sunny,  hopeful,  cheerful.  The  Leader  taught  that  brood- 
ing on  the  ills  of  life  is  a  sin,  and  this  wholesome  doctrine  has 
remade  chronic  grumblers  and  fretful  invalids,  loaded  under 
a  burden  of  imaginary  ills,  into  bright,  active,  and  helpful 
men  and  women. 

[Cleveland  Plain  Dealer] 

The  death  of  the  Founder  of  Christian  Science  removes 
from  the  world  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  all 
time.  Her  career  commands  admiration,  no  matter  what 
opinion  may  be  held  of  her  teachings.  Mrs.  Eddy  founded 
a  religious  sect  that  during  her  lifetime  multiplied  its  prose- 
lytes till  it  has  become  a  great  force  in  American  life.  She 
retained  her  position  as  sole  Leader,  and  was  looked  up  to 
by  her  followers  as  the  sole  source  of  inspiration.  Virile 
and  vigorous,  she  was  a  natural  commander,  a  natural 
organizer,  a  woman  who  displayed  intellectual  qualities  of 
the  highest  order.  The  work  that  Mrs.  Eddy  has  done  will 
remain  as  her  monument.  Christian  Science  will  not  perish 
with  the  death  of  its  Founder.  It  has  assumed  proportions 
that  assure  permanency. 

[Baltimore  (Md.)  Sun] 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Founder  of  Christian  Science 
and  author  of  many  books  treating  upon  that  subject,  is 
dead  at  Boston,  having  some  months  ago  passed  into  her 
ninetieth  year.  Mrs.  Eddy  was  one  of  the  remarkable 
women  of  her  time.  A  sickly,  weak  child,  she  grew  into  a 
frail  woman  who  seemed  to  have  but  a  slender  hold  on 
existence,  and  yet  she  lived  to  an  unusual  age,  a  life  full 
of  work  and  teeming  with  results.  Establishing  a  church, 
she  remained  its  head  to  the  time  of  her  demise,  managing 
its   affairs   with   great   executive   ability   and   penetrating 


122  MARY    BAKER    EDDY 

judgment.  Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  the  church  she 
founded,  now  that  her  forceful  hand  is  removed  from  the 
management  of  its  affairs,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  her 
wonderful  administrative  ability,  her  keen  insight  into  hu- 
man nature,  and  her  tremendous  capacity  for  work.  Her 
place  in  history  as  one  of  the  really  extraordinary  women  of 
her  day  is  secure. 

[Concord  (N.  H.)  Monitor] 

FOR    MRS.   EDDY 

CITY  GOVERNMENT  PASSES  RESOLUTIONS  OF  RESPECT 

At  the  meeting  of  the  city  government,  Monday  night 
[Dec.  26],  action  was  taken  on  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mary 
Baker  Eddy  by  the  passage  of  appropriate  resolutions.  The 
resolutions  were  introduced  by  Alderman  Cressy,  and  in 
presenting  them  he  said : 

"The  year  1910  is  soon  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  so  is 
this  city  charter  and  this  city  government,  and  before  the 
book  of  records  which  has  been  so  faithfully  kept  by  our 
worthy  city  clerk  is  closed,  it  seems  wise,  though  a  regret- 
table duty,  to  have  spread  thereon  this  resolution  which  I 
am  about  to  introduce  over  the  death  of  one  of  Concord's 
most  distinguished  citizens,  the  Rev.  Mary  Baker  Eddy. 

"Although  some  two  years  ago  Mrs.  Eddy  took  up  a  tem- 
porary residence  in  Massachusetts,  that  she  might  be  nearer 
her  work,  Concord  proudly  and  justly  claims  Mrs.  Eddy 
as  one  of  her  citizens,  and  in  her  death  we  lose  an  honored, 
respected,  and  beloved  benefactor.  While  some  may  differ 
in  their  technical  belief,  all  Concord  bows  its  head  reverently 
at  Mrs.  Eddy's  death,  and  I  ask  your  careful  consideration 
of  the  following  resolution : 

"By  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  Con- 
cord loses  its  most  distinguished  citizen.  During  the  many 
years  she  resided  here,  thousands  of  people  from  our  own 
land  and  from  foreign  countries  have  visited  our  city  in 
paying  their  respects  to  her.  Through  her  followers,  Con- 
cord has  become  known  through  the  civilized  world. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS  123 

"Mrs.  Eddy  was  distinguished  by  public  spirit,  deep  gen- 
erosity, wide  charity,  and  tender  and  thoughtful  helpful- 
ness, and  it  seems  fitting  and  appropriate  that  we,  the  mayor 
and  the  board  of  aldermen  and  the  common  council  of  the 
city  of  Concord,  take  some  action  in  behalf  of  our  citizens 
to  express  our  appreciation  of  her  residence  among  us  and 
our  esteem  of  her  character ;  therefore 

"Be  it  resolved,  That  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mary  Baker 
Eddy  the  world  has  suffered  an  irreparable  loss  and  the 
citizens  of  Concord  the  loss  of  an  honored  and  a  devoted 
friend  of  our  city,  whose  motto  was  'to  injure  no  man,  but 
to  bless  all  mankind.'  "  * 

*  "The  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  and  Miscellany,"  page  353. 


INDEX 


A  Tribute.  By  Mrs.  Annie  M. 
Knott  in  The  Christian  Science 
Monitor,  9. 

For  Mrs.  Eddy,  Concord  (N.  H.) 
city  government  passes  resolu- 
tions of  respect,  122. 

"Judge  righteous  judgment."  Edi- 
torial by  Archibald  McLellan  in 
Christian  Science  Sentinel,  7. 

Mary  Baker  Eddy.    Editorial  by 

Archibald  McLellan  in  Christian 

Science  Sentinel,  3. 
Onward   and   Upward.     Editorial 

by  Annie  M.  Knott  in  Christian 

Science  Sentinel,  5. 


Current  Literature,  92. 
Harper's  Weekly,  67. 
Success  Magazine,  104. 
Twentieth  Century  Magazine,  50. 

CANADA 

Alberta. — Calgary,  Herald,  105. 
British  Columbia. — Victoria,  Daily 

Colonist,  105. 
Ontario. — Hamilton,  Times,  111. 

London,  Free  Press,  107. 
Province    of    Quebec. — Montreal, 

Gazette,  119. 

Montreal,  Star,  22. 

Westmount,  News,  102. 


CHINA 

Hongkong,  Overland  China  Mail, 
69. 

ENGLAND 

Leeds,    Yorkshire    Evening   Post, 
100. 

HAWAII 

Honolulu,  Pacific  Commercial  Ad- 
vertiser, 116. 

MEXICO 

City  of  Mexico,  Herald,  79. 

PORTO  RICO 

San  Juan,  Times,  89. 

UNITED  STATES 

ALABAMA 

Birmingham,  News,  35. 
Tuscaloosa,  News,  95. 

ALASKA 

Fairbanks,  Daily  Times,  73. 
The  Alaska  Citizen,  68. 

ARIZONA 

Phoenix,  Democrat,  97. 

Prescott,  Arizona  Journal- Miner, 

101. 
Yuma,  Arizona  Sentinel,  70. 
125 


126 


MARY    BAKER    EDDY 


CALIFORNIA 

Los  Angeles,  Express,  36. 

Herald,  47. 

Record,  45. 
Pasadena,  Daily  News,  37. 
Sacramento,  Union,  41. 
San  Bernardino,  Evening  Index,  44. 
San  Diego,  Herald,  62. 
San  Francisco,  Examiner,  39. 
San  Jose,  Mercury,  62. 

COLORADO 

Denver,  Republican,  75. 
Post,  90. 

Rocky  Mountain  News,  27. 
Times,  26. 

Leadville,  Herald-Democrat,  91. 

Pueblo,  Indicator,  99. 

Steamboat  Springs,  Steamboat  Pi- 
lot, 72. 

CONNECTICUT 

Meriden,  Record,  118. 

New  Haven,  Journal-Courier,  35, 

83. 
New  London,  Day,  97. 

Telegraph,  96. 

DELAWARE 


ILLINOIS 

Chicago,  Journal,  119. 

Po^,  17. 

77?e  Farmers  Voice,  100. 

Tribune,  12: 
Danville,  Commercial  News,  86. 
Decatur,  Herald,  75. 
Peoria,  Journal,  71. 
Quincy,  Herald,  78. 
Rockford,  Morning  Star,  69. 

Register-Gazette,  77. 
Rock  Island,  Union,  114. 
Springfield,  News,  65. 

INDIANA 

Anderson,  Herald,  115. 
Ft.  Wayne,  Sentinel,  112 
South  Bend,  Arew  £ra,  47. 
News,  33. 

IOWA 

Ames,  Intelligencer,  113 
Cedar  Rapids,  Evening  Times,  108. 
Creston,  Morning  American,  65. 
Davenport,  Democrat  and  Leader, 

109. 
Des  Moines,  Capital,  112. 

Evening  Tribune,  59. 
Marshalltown,  Z?ai/y  Herald,  104. 

KANSAS 


Wilmington,  Evening  Journal,  64, 
85. 


Arkansas    City,    Z?az7y    Traveler, 

117. 
Leavenworth,  Daily  Times,  103. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  .    0ttawa>  ^  *•#«**.  103- 

Parsons,  Swn,  104. 

Washington,  Herald,  32,  79.  Wichita,  £ag/e,  66. 


GEORGIA 
Atlanta,  Constitution,  22. 


KENTUCKY 

Louisville,  Times,  30. 


EDITORIAL   COMMENTS 


127 


MAINE 

Augusta,  Kennebec  Journal,  25. 
Brunswick,  Record,  48. 
Houlton,  Aroostook  Pioneer,  57. 
Portland,  Express  and  Advertiser, 
98. 

MARYLAND 

Baltimore,  Sun,  121. 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Boston,  Courier,  58. 

Globe,,  13. 

Journal,  48. 

Port,  14. 

Transcript,  19. 

Traveler,  18. 

Aorta's  Crow,  79. 
Lowell,  Courier -Citizen,  94. 
Maiden,  Evening  News,  116. 
Springfield,  Republican,  81. 

Union,  20. 
Worcester,  Telegram,  79. 

MICHIGAN 

Battle  Creek,  £)<n7y  Moon,  84. 
Grand  Rapids,  Evening  Press,  120. 

MINNESOTA 

Albert  Lea,  Tribune,  88. 
Bemidji,  Pioneer,  113. 
Cannon  Falls,  Beacon,  54,  76. 
Duluth,  iVeaw  Tribune,  29. 
Minneapolis,  Journal,  71. 
St.  Paul,  Dispatch,  66. 

MISSISSIPPI 

Jackson,  Clarion-Ledger,  119. 
£)a/7y  News,  116. 


MISSOURI 

Joplin,  Z)at7y  Globe,  42. 
Kansas  City,  Journal,  45,  65. 

5/ar,  49. 
Rich  Hill,  Z?af/y  Review,  86. 
Springfield,  Republican,  49. 
St.  Louis,  Post-Dispatch,  49. 

Times,  87. 

Woman's  National  Daily,  The,  11. 

MONTANA 

Billings,  Journal,  59. 
Butte,  Evening  News,  24. 

Tribune-Review,  108. 
Red  Lodge,  Republican  Picket,  106. 
Virginia  City,  Madisonian,  108. 

NEBRASKA 

Hastings,  Z?ai/y  Tribune,  114. 
Lincoln,  Z?a*7y  5tor,  67. 
Omaha,  Evening  Bee,  111. 
World-Herald,  43. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

Concord,  Monitor,  13. 
Manchester,  Union,  17. 

NEW  JERSEY 

Dover,  77te  /ron  .Era,  46. 
Morristown,  Jerseyman,  89. 
Rutherford,  Republican,  46. 
Short  Hills,  /few,  53. 

NEW  YORK 

New  York,  American,  15. 

Harlem  Local,  60. 

Morning  Telegraph,  16. 

Morning  Sun,  15. 
Rochester,  Times,  64. 
Saratoga  Springs,  Saratogian,  57. 
Syracuse,  Journal,  69. 
Utica,  Press,  61. 


128 


MARY    BAKER    EDDY 


NORTH  CAROLINA 
Asheville,  Citizen,  28. 

OHIO 

Athens,  Daily  Messenger,  88. 

Belief  ontaine,     Index-Republican. 
101. 

Canton,  News-Democrat,  98. 

Cleveland,  Jewish  Review  and  Ob- 
server, 56. 
Leader,  38. 
Plain  Dealer,  121. 
Press,  78. 

Columbus,  News,  44. 

Coshocton,  Daily  Age,  99. 

Lebanon,  Western  Star,  92. 

Lima,  Times-Democrat,  94. 

Middletown,  News-Signal,  100. 

Piqua,  Leader-Dispatch,  55. 

Sandusky,  Register,  40. 

OREGON 

Pendleton,  Fastf  Oregonian,  118. 
Portland,  Journal,  115. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Johnstown,  Democrat,  30. 
Philadelphia,  Press,  39. 
Public  Ledger,  26. 

RHODE  ISLAND 
Providence,  News,  41. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA 

Sioux  Falls,  Dai/y  Argus-Leader, 
50,51. 

TENNESSEE 
Knoxville,  Sentinel,  74. 
Memphis,  iVew^  Scimitar,  102. 

TEXAS 

Dallas,  Christian  Advocate,  68. 

News,  31. 
Houston,  Chronicle,  50. 
Temple,  £>ai/y  Telegram,  100. 
Weatherford,  Democrat,  62. 

UTAH 

Salt  Lake  City,  Goodwin's  Weekly, 
63. 
Tribune,  43. 

VIRGINIA 

Lynchburg,  News,  21. 

WASHINGTON 

Seattle,  £>a*7y  Times,  93. 
Spokane,  Inland  Herald,  23. 

WISCONSIN 

La  Crosse,  Tribune,  89. 
Manitowoc,  £>ai/y  Herald,  110. 
Milwaukee,  Z)oiZy  News,  30. 
Free  Press,  82. 


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BOSTON,    U.  S.  A. 


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